Bound By Threads
by Anei Aikouka
Summary: Character Story: The yamis go to Hogwarts to learn magic and, Isis hopes, to care for others. What happens when the threads that bind them to their routine are questioned? Will they hold fast to their ways or is everything going to change? Complete
1. Ch 1 Introduction to Destruction

Chapter 1

"So these are the students you wanted me to take." Dumbledore was standing with Isis in the center of the room, staring skeptically at Yugi, Malik, and Ryou.

"Yes, that's right. They have extremely powerful magic but they can't control it... Oh Ra," she added as the boys' eyes widened in alarm and Ryou and Malik slid to their knees. Dumbledore turned around to see what the problem was but he saw nothing. When he turned back they were all on their feet again but now the three of them were saturated with magic.

"Well," said Dumbledore, his eyes widening slightly. "At first I didn't see any traces of magic about them at all but now I see what you mean. They have very powerful magic and will definitely be accepted into Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall will be here to help them get their supplies tomorrow. Have a good day all of you, and thank you for telling me of this." And with that he doffed his wizard hat in a low bow in Isis' direction before turning and striding calmly out the door.

As soon as he was safely out the door the yamis separated, Ryou and Malik once more dropping to their knees, and Isis glared at them. "You were supposed to be here all along. Do you realize what could happen if the professor had found out about you? He isn't likely to ignore having three of his students being possessed by evil spirits."

"Evil?" Yami mocked, "I'm hurt."

"Just how were we supposed to know that we should be here anyway?" Marik asked. "I didn't hear anything about it until right now."

"But," Isis said sounding confused "I told them to tell you to be here today."

"Oh, come off it." Bakura spoke for the first time "You didn't seriously think that any of them would ever be so stupid as to try and tell us what to do." He put a hand on Ryou's head as Isis gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. "I never even gave it a thought." Then to the yamis, "But perhaps that is because I've lived too long among normal people? After all, it isn't considered _normal_ to beat up others so much that they're afraid to do anything without permission. Or have I missed something here?"

"You might consider being a bit more polite." Marik suggested threateningly fisting his hand in Malik's hair. "After all, _someone_ is going to have to pay for that rudeness. And since you're off limits I'll just have to make do..."

The next day McGonagall came to collect the boys and take them to get their books. She met, however, not the shy teenagers but the three yamis who were still angry about not being told that they were going to be sent to school. Despite what Bakura had said in the boys' defense the yamis blamed their hikaris for the lack of knowledge and had acted accordingly.

Therefore, as she took them to Gringotts wizard bank in Diagon Alley the scenes inside the boys' soul rooms were grim. Malik was lying in a pool of his own blood in the center of his room. He had been beaten several times already today and didn't wish to trigger another one by moving from where Marik had thrown him. Yugi was curled up in his bed clutching his Dark Magician plushie and crying. Yami wasn't as bad as the others; he'd just slapped Yugi and screamed at him for not telling him what Isis wanted.

Then there was Ryou. His yami preferred combining physical and mental torture so Ryou was shackled to the wall, his legs and arms spread to make an X shape... held on by threads. There were blocks of wood coming out of the wall under his feet and he had to hold himself up by pressing his feet against them and locking his legs into position. This was _his_ punishment.

Yami set their money on the counter and watched as the goblins changed it into wizard currency. The three had pooled their money, most of which they had stolen, so that only one of them would have to bother with changing it. Once they had finished there (McGonagall was amazed at how much money they had) the three had to get their wands.

They entered Ollivanders wand shop and he began to bring out wands. Yami went through a lot of wands before ending up with a wand that was made out of cherry wood and bound with gold and ruby inlays. When he waved it the image of Osiris appeared above him. Marik's wand was of ebony with gold bound around it and produced the image of Ra. Bakura's choice was a rod of silver birch with and silver onyx bindings around it and Diaboundo appeared when he swished it through the air. These wands were so old that Ollivander didn't even remember what they had in their cores.

Ollivander was torn between shock at the unusual wand choices and the monsters that appeared, and elation at the fact that the wands they had were extremely expensive. The three had no trouble in paying for them and walked out the three most flashy wands around. This got them the attention of a boy with slick blond hair and gray eyes.

"Well," he sneered at them, "Trying to look fancy are we? I'm Draco Malfoy and I go to Hogwarts. I don't recognize you though."

"They are new students Draco." McGonagall told him severely "These three have only recently come into their powers and have been accepted into Hogwarts as fifth year students. I do hope that you will have the courtesy to treat them with respect."

"Oh, yeah, just recently come into our powers, suuure. I've had my magic for five thousand years thank you very much lady." Yami muttered under his breath.

"New students, ha, they won't last. None of them could even hold their own in a duel." Draco sneered. His statement however provoked a larger reaction than he expected.

"Why you little!" Yami screamed and launched himself at the other. "I'm going to crush you for that! You don't know what you're talking about you slime ball. I'm the king of games and can beat you in a duel any day."

"Um, Yami, much as I loathe the idea of defending the idiot the professor looks like she's about to explode." Bakura interrupted him.

Professor McGonagall dragged them into the bookshop and proceeded to give Yami a thorough scolding while the others looked for their books. They had been trying not to cause trouble because Isis had promised that dire things awaited them if they set a foot out of line while she still had charge of them but, thanks to Malfoy, this hadn't worked.

Bakura bumped into Harry and his friends who were chattering about how bad Malfoy was going to be and told them what had happened figuring they would spread it around and get Malfoy laughed at. Hermione seemed particularly interested by the fact that they were transfers and Marik and Bakura ended up getting pestered by them for information on why they needed to be placed in Hogwarts at this late date.

Actually they decided that they quite liked the group and introduced them to Yami. The British boys reminded them of Yugi-tachi who, while Bakura and Marik had loved to ridicule them, were actually fun to be with. Also being friends with someone in the castle would help them get around. Harry's gang came with them as they got the rest of their supplies and Yami pumped them for information on the wizarding world.

Hermione seemed to be shocked that they had not heard of Voldemort and explained everything to them. The reaction she got was not what she expected. The three of them started firing questions about his strategy, the way he gained and kept followers, the recent attempts to gain power etc. In short they wanted to know everything about him. After they had gotten all their stuff Ron asked why they wanted to know. The yamis simply replied that they found the subject interesting and that it was a good example of the way a dark wizard worked.

"But why would you want to know how an evil wizard works anyway?" Harry asked them.

"I come from a community where the knowledge of things past was passed down throughout the generations. This makes it interesting to study more modern history. Also we have had our share of enemies and want to know what kind of opposition we are likely to find in your world."

Then Marik suddenly grabbed Bakura's shoulder. "Cover for me, would you?" he asked softly "The baka's decided to start moving now and I'm still mad at him."

"Still?" Bakura asked him, amused "All right, I'll cover you. Have fun."

"Oh, I will," Marik replied grimly, I will."


	2. Ch 2 The extent of pain

Chapter 2

"Well, and you've got a good reason for deciding to move have you?" Marik inquired dangerously from behind Malik.

Malik spun around staring, terrified, at Marik. "N-n-no master," he stuttered out fearfully, "I, I'm s-sorry m-m-m-mast-t-ter, I, I w-was j-just..."

"Shut up" Marik snarled kicking him hard. "I don't have time to listen to your pitiful excuses." He pulled the boy up by his hair delivering a hard punch to the gut, which sent Malik flying across to the other side of the room. "It's obvious that you're just trying to get out of it." He kicked Malik over and over again listening with pleasure to his screams of pain.

He didn't stop until he heard something snap, probably a rib. Then he pulled him up by his hair again and slapped him, leaving his palm imprinted on the light's cheek. Pulling out a knife he ran it lightly over Malik's arm leaving a trail of blood before shoving the boy to the ground and ripping off his shirt. He slashed the hikari's chest in short, sharp strokes, forming the kanji for a name – Bakura – before standing up, licking the blood off his knife, and leaving with a parting injunction to 'stay still now'.

When he came back to himself they were back in Isis' house and he was standing in the middle of the living room. "So you're back now?" Bakura asked him. "You took a while there; maybe you should leave him for a while now. We wouldn't want you to do any permanent damage would we?"

Marik snorted, "Yeah, like you actually mean that. Come on, you've done worse and enjoyed it too."

"True," Bakura grinned, "And since I'm on the subject of hikaris I'm going to be checking on my own for a while okay? See you when I'm finished with him. Maybe we could study together?" He looked hopefully at Marik, who grinned and nodded, before breaking out into a smile of his own and heading upstairs.

Bakura closed his eyes as he retreated into the corridor between their shared minds. Opening the door to Ryou's soul room he walked in to the plain, impersonal room. The only items in the room were the instruments that he was using to torture his hikari. He did not allow Ryou to keep things in his soul room. That, as with everything else in Ryou's life, was under his control.

Ryou was trembling with the strain of holding his position, a fine patina of sweat covering his body. Bakura smirked as he walked up to the boy, running a finger along the thread that bound his wrist to the wall. The dark took a step back, pulling a thread from the hem of his shirt and snapping it. The threads that held Ryou snapped with it but he didn't dare move without permission.

"Down," Bakura ordered him and Ryou gratefully collapsed to his knees, his sweat-soaked hair tumbling forward to hide his face. Bakura snapped his fingers and a stand with a basin of water on it appeared in a corner of the room. "Wash up" he continued harshly, and then, as he looked down on Ryou his expression softened slightly. "You've been a good boy today." He added, stroking the other's hair gently. "So I think I'll give you a break..."

Ryou didn't move until he was sure the other had left.

"Hey, Bakura, you done already? Come over here. I don't get this book." Marik called him as he came down the stairs.

"Sure, which one is it?"

"'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander, I decided to start with the most interesting and basic information. This is the first year stuff, of course. Yami says that we should start at the beginning, where the magic students would normally start. I hate reading, so could you read it to me? Please?"

"Okay. I've already started reading 'Magical Theory' on my own though, so I'm not going to be reading that one to you."

"Whatever, you know I live for the moment. Just start reading already!" Marik pulled Bakura onto the couch next to him and handed him the book. Yami came in to sit on a chair at the opposite side of the room and listen to Bakura's reading while sketching pictures of his old palace for Isis to look at later.

"About the author, Newton 'Newt' Artemis Fido Scamander (Wow, that's a mouthful) was born in 1897. His interest in fabulous beasts was encouraged by his mother who was an enthusiastic breeder of fancy Hippogriffs. (Anyone know what a Hippogriff is?)"

"Isn't that what you're reading this book to find out?" Yami asked him jokingly.

"Yeah, whatever, anyway; Upon graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic..."

A couple of hours later Bakura put down the book he had been reading (A.N. and yes, he's finished 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' this is a different book) and yawned. "I'm going to bed; see you guys in the morning."

"Huh?" Yami asked startled, "Is it really that late? I didn't notice. You're a good reader Thief."

"Thanks Pharaoh," Bakura replied sleepily from his position halfway up the stairs. Yami smirked and put away his sketchpad, following Bakura's example and heading up to bed. Marik stared dreamily at the stairs for several minutes before snapping out of it and following the other two up to bed. This magic stuff might be fun after all, especially if he could persuade Bakura to continue reading for them.

The three studied their course books and practiced their wand work at a feverish pace over the next few weeks giving Malik and Ryou a welcome break as their yamis were normally too busy to torture them. Actually Bakura had suggested that they all be left together in a bedroom upstairs so that they could study the books that the yamis weren't going to have time for. Without having read the previous books the ones that the three hikaris read didn't make sense, but their yamis would understand them when they pulled the information from the boy's minds and it gave them a precious chance to spend time together.

The yamis and Isis worked together, going through and mastering all of the spells in the _Standard Book of Spells_ series and getting as much reading done for the other things as possible. By the time September 1st came they had actually managed to go through all their books and had memorized all the information thanks to Isis's efficient methods.

The three packed their stuff. They had a lot of stuff and ended up keeping most of it in their and their hikaris' soul rooms, only taking their robes and a few of the many ancient books that Isis had bought for them to read on the train. After all of them were ready they piled into Isis's car and she drove them to the station where they all pulled their trunks out and waved goodbye.

"Okay guys look for a platform 9 ¾" Yami ordered them.

"There isn't one. There's 9 and then a bunch of pillars then 10, there's no 9 ¾" Marik replied sounding annoyed "What do these wizards do with the platform anyway?"

"I don't know. Bakura, read someone's mind to find the information."

"Do you have any idea of how many people there are in here?" Bakura asked him irritably, "I'll do it, but it's going to give me a hell of headache and I'll be useless for a couple of hours after that." He pulled the eye out his pocket touching it to the ring and closed his eyes to concentrate. When he opened his eyes again he was even paler than usual and he wavered slightly where he stood. "You run through that barrier over there." he told them in a colorless voice before letting Ryou take over.

"Man, he really wasn't kidding about it draining him," Yami commented, sounding surprised at the extent of the change.

"Is he all right?" Marik asked Ryou.

Ryou smiled gently at the floor, not lifting his eyes from the ground. "Bakura-sama is fine. He's just too tired to do anything right now." That said, he picked up his trunk and walked right through the barrier. The other two exchanged startled glances before running to catch up.


	3. Ch 3 To be in place

Chapter 3

The three of them, Yami, Marik, and Ryou, got onto the train and chose an empty compartment. A few minutes later Harry, Ron, and Hermione came through. "Hey, want to join us?" Marik called to them and they agreed, coming in and sitting down in the seats across from the Millennium Item holders.

"So, have you read this year's textbooks?" Hermione inquired.

"Seriously, Hermione," Ron groaned, "Do you think we have nothing else to than reading schoolbooks? We only got them last month."

"You mean you haven't read your books?" Yami asked him in surprise.

At Ron's affirming nod Marik groaned, "And we've all been working like mad to try and read them all, thinking that we needed to get them read so we wouldn't be too far behind."

"Huh?" Harry asked intelligently "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that you're new students. How did you manage to get in so late anyway? I mean coming in in the fifth year is extremely weird. Dumbledore always manages to spot magic users."

"I don't know; we didn't realize that there was any community for witches and wizards. I mean, we knew that magic existed because of Shadi, who's this really weird Egyptian guy who dresses in robes and a turban and keeps turning up in the weirdest places. It's like he teleports himself or something. So he and Isis showed us our past lives and stuff like that which made it pretty obvious that magic existed. But we didn't realize that we were wizards until Isis signed us up to go to Hogwarts."

"But that's crazy." Hermione put in. "Dumbledore should still have recognized your magical talent and sent you a letter on his own."

"Well just don't expect us to know anything." Marik told her.

"So, can you do magic now?" Harry asked them, "I mean since you're just starting now you might not know how to do anything."

"Oh, we've studied the books;" Yami told him airily "The spells are pretty simple actually. Almost too simple, there's just no challenge in using them."

"Oh, really," Ron put in sarcastically, "And how come _you_ find them easy whereas I, who grew up in a wizarding family, still have trouble with some of them?"

"Oh, I don't know," Marik's tone matched Ron's for sarcasm "Perhaps you're just an idiot."

"Calm down guys," Hermione cautioned them "You don't need to fight to prove that you're as good as you say you are. I believe you."

The boys ignored her, "Perhaps this calls for a demonstration." Yami pulled out his wand.

"Wow," breathed all three wizards (well, one's a witch) staring at his wand. "That is just amazing." "It's gorgeous," "How did you get a wand that fancy?"

"Fancy?" Yami and Marik chorused.

"This isn't fancy, it's just normal."

"Yeah, if it was fancy it would be solid gold, preferably done in the way Bakura works metals."

"Bakura does metalwork?"

"Yeah, Bakura does metalwork, Marik works with wood, and I draw and paint. We've all got our own hobby. (That's why they packed so much stuff. Of course they also had various weapons but they normally kept those in their soul rooms anyway.)"

"Cool. I don't make anything; I guess my hobby would be playing Quidditch."

"Quidditch, what's that?"

"It's this really cool game played on broomsticks..."

By the time they arrived at the castle Bakura had taken over again and the yamis had all decided that they hated Quidditch. Ron had been going on about it for hours. When they got out with the others and saw the carriages all four of them (the yamis plus Harry) gasped and stared at the strange creatures harnessed to the carriages.

Bakura was the first one to speak "Wow," and then walking up and addressing one of the strange creatures, "Who are you? You look fantastic."

"Figures," Yami muttered.

"How can he like those creatures?" Harry asked shakily.

"What are you talking about Harry?" Ron asked "I don't see anything. Besides we've got to get in the carriage. They're going to be moving soon."

"Don't you see them?" Harry asked "They're like great black winged horses. And they've got leathery wings and they look half starved."

"I know what they are!" exclaimed Marik suddenly, climbing into the carriage and pulling Harry in behind him. "They're Thestrals. We read about them in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' remember? Bakura get your ass in here now!" he hollered out the window, "Anyway," Marik continued once they were all safely inside, "They're a type of winged horse that's considered to be very unlucky by wizards because they can only be seen by those who have seen death. And Bakura, I know you like monsters, but why did you have to decide to go over there and pet them? They could have been dangerous."

"It's good to see you remember what I read to you," Bakura replied ignoring his comment. "And they're wonderful aren't they?"

"Um, how 'bout, no" Yami told him sarcastically. "I prefer your Dark Necrophia to those things."

"But I like Dark Necrophia," Bakura protested.

"Yeah, and you like tarot cards and all sorts of weird stuff. What house is Malfoy in, do you know?" Marik put in.

"Slytherin, why?" Ron asked in confusion.

"'Cause I want to make sure that whatever house he's in I'm not."

"Well that I can understand, Malfoy is a git." Harry said wryly.

"Git? What's a git?" Yami asked in confusion.

"It's, um, well, not a very nice term for someone. I'd have to agree though, Malfoy deserves it." Hermione looked reprovingly at Ron. "And as a prefect, you should know better than to call people names."

"Oh, come on Hermione, give him a break. If being a prefect means you have to be a goody-goody then I'm glad that I'm not one."

"I'm sure being a prefect is a great responsibility," Bakura told her calmly, "But you have to take it in stride. Don't get all worked up about it."

The carriage stopped in front of the palace and everyone filed into the Great Hall. Harry and his friends went and took a seat at the Gryffindor table while the three darks went up to Professor McGonagall to see what they were supposed to do. "Wait here through the sorting." she told them "Once all of the first-years have been sorted then you will be called up to be sorted into your houses."

"Okay," Yami told her, and then to the others "Now, let's just make sure that we won't go into Slytherin. Bakura, can you do your thing on the professor?"

Bakura nodded, "The hat over there is a sentient being that reads your mind and decides where the best place for you is. If Marik can mind-control it we can get it to put us wherever we want."

"Right," Marik agreed eagerly as the hat began to sing; he'd been waiting for a chance to use his rod again. "So what house do we want to go into?"

"Well Ravenclaw's for the ones who are extra intelligent. Slytherin is for purebloods and evil people, but we've already decided against that. Gryffindor is for the brave and Hufflepuff is for people who can't get into any of the others as far as I can see." Bakura told them.

"Right then," Yami decided, "We're going to be in Gryffindor."

The three turned their attention to the sorting listening as the first years were sorted into various houses. Yami in particular was fascinated by the idea of a hat that could think. Dumbledore stood up then his presence commanding the attention of the students around the tables.

"Now as some of you might already know we have three special students this year. Their magic didn't awaken until recently and therefore they are to be put in the fifth year with others of their age group. They will now be sorted into their houses." He sat down heavily.

"Bakura, Ryou," McGonagall called. Bakura coolly stepped up, taking the hat and placing it on his head.

"Hmm," the hat murmured in his ear, "difficult. You have the qualities to go into Slytherin if you want to."

"I am _not_ going to be in the same house as Malfoy." Bakura mentally snarled at the hat. "Slytherin is out of the question."

"All right then, if you don't like Slytherin let's put you in... GRYFFINDOR!" Bakura rolled his eyes as he stood up and hissed at Marik as he went past. "Some help you were."

"Hey," Marik protested defensively, "I tried!"

"Ishtar, Marik," Marik put on the hat and appeared to be having an interior argument with it.

'If you dare to put me in Slytherin you stupid hat, I will rip you to shreds and then burn the pieces and scatter the ashes on the four winds of the earth!'

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.

"Moto, Yami," Yami tried the hat on, and it fell over his head so that all anyone could see was his mouth.

'I go with my friends.'

"Yes, I see, brave, and rather foolhardy at times, you actually are fit for GRYFFINDOR!"

Yami walked over to sit with his friends as the Gryffindor table started another bout of cheering. "Well, that was good luck, we managed to get into the house we wanted despite Marik's inability to help us."

"I can't control the thing if I can't put myself in its body and I just can't see myself as a talking hat."

"Yeah okay, so where's the food? I'm starving!"

"Hey, unfair, there's no raw meat!"

"Aw, come off it Bakura. Raw meat's not good for you; you'll get a stomach-ache if you try to eat any."

"Fine," Bakura snarled, and then, "Hey, Hermione, who's that!"

The ghosts were swooping in through the walls now and all the first years were staring at them. "Oh, those are just the ghosts. There's a lot of them around here. You want to watch out for Peeves, he's a poltergeist and the only ghost who's in color."

The Bloody Baron swooped over toward their table stopping in front of Marik and sneering at him. "So, who are you? And what are you doing with the Gryffindors? You _should_ be in my house."

"Oh, shut your trap idiot." Marik snarled in return. "I'm not in Slytherin am I? So I'm obviously not supposed to be there. I'm quite happy where I am, thank you very much for asking, _not_. Now GO AWAY!"

The Bloody Baron flew away looking shaken and rather scared, and Marik returned his attention to his food. This was the best meal they had had since arriving in England and they were enjoying it. Isis was a _terrible_ cook.

After dinner was over Dumbledore stood up. Everyone fell silent as everyone turned to look at him. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now too." At this Harry, Ron, and Hermione smirked at each other. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are any number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door. We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

A few people clapped unenthusiastically. "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the –"

Dumbledore stopped suddenly looking over at Professor Umbridge, Professor Umbridge looked like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. As she looked up they could see a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

"Hem, hem," said Professor Umbridge. Dumbledore sat down and looked attentively at the professor. The other teachers were not so calm. Professor McGonagall's mouth was a thin line and Professor Sprout's eyebrows were in her hair. Students were smirking at her mistake. Obviously the Professor didn't understand the way things were done at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmaster," simpered Professor Umbridge in a high-pitched girly and slightly breathy voice "for those kind words of welcome." She coughed again and continued "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me." No-one looked happy at being addressed as if they were in kindergarten. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends! Hem, hem," said Professor Umbridge again. When she resumed her speech she didn't sound so enthusiastic. Her words were now dull as though she had learned them by rote.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Here she paused and gave the other teachers and staff members a small bow. None of them looked very impressed. Professor Umbridge gave another throat-clearing cough and continued.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school..." She went on in this vein for quite a while leaving everyone thoroughly bored. "...Let us move forward then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Dumbledore clapped as she sat down. He was almost the only one. A few of the staff clapped once or twice and none of the students had been paying enough attention to know that she had finished. Before they could start however Dumbledore stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating. Now, as I was saying Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

"Ghastly woman," Fred commented.

"Did you notice her theme?" Hermione asked them.

"Theme? What theme?" Ron asked her.

"Oh, come on," Yami told him scornfully, "Please don't tell me you didn't notice what was staring you in the face."

"What? I don't understand." Harry said. Obviously Ron wasn't the only clueless one here.

"Honestly," Hermione sounded exasperated. "She as good as said that the ministry is trying to interfere in Hogwarts business." People began to disperse as Dumbledore dismissed them all. "Come on Ron, we're prefects now, we have to show the first years to the homeroom."

"Oh yeah," Ron didn't look too happy about this "Oi, Midgets,"

"Hey, I resent that!" Yami glared at him.

"Oh, sorry, first years this way please. Follow me."

"Mind if we follow too? We're new here so we don't know what to do either."

"Why bother to ask, we'll do it anyway."

Hermione and Ron got the first years sorted out and took them to the Gryffindor common room, telling them the password and showing them the way to the dormitories (the yamis got a room to themselves as they didn't fit in with any of the others). Everyone said goodnight in a hurry and then ran to bed. It was late and they wanted to get a good start the next day.


	4. Ch 4 Lessons for wizards

Chapter 4

When the yamis came down the next day the first thing that Harry's gang noticed was that Marik's earrings were missing. The long dangly golden shapes were hard to miss. The next thing they saw was that they were all wearing small studs now. Yami was wearing earrings with small red studs, Bakura's were black, and Marik's studs were a light purple color that matched his eyes.

"We decided that we were going to get our ears pierced as a sort of symbol of a new life in a new world." Yami told them noticing that their gazes were fixed on the earrings the boys were wearing. "Marik already had his ears pierced but he has agreed not to wear any other earrings until our ears have healed."

"Cool," Ron exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of doing something like that to show that I was different once I'd been accepted into Hogwarts?"

"It's a neat idea but I don't think that your mother would let you get your ears pierced just to make a statement Ron. And besides, don't most boys only get one earring?"

"We don't fit in the category 'most boys' no matter how you mean it." Bakura's eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"Yes, I'd have to agree with you there. We are _not_ like most boys."

"No, of course not, you're wizards. What wizard fits under that category?" Harry agreed.

At Potions, their first lesson for the day, they met Malfoy again. "Oh, it's you is it?" he sneered at them "Didn't learn anything from our last encounter?"

"Shut up Malfoy, I'm trying to listen to Professor Snape" Marik said absently as he added more ingredients to his potion. "No, Bakura you idiot!" Marik grabbed his hand, just barely managing to stop him from adding in the wrong ingredient. "Honestly, you may be good at other things but just let me take care of these, okay? No wonder you can't cook."

"Aw, are the little babies having trouble?" Malfoy said his upper lip curling.

"Yes we are having trouble. Trouble in the form of a slimy little boy named Draco." Yami retorted, "Now why don't you follow Marik's suggestion and shut your mouth. Maybe that way you won't get hurt."

"Oh, and just _what_ could a bunch of second-rate newbies do to me anyway? Have you met Crabbe and Goyle yet?" He gestured to the two hulking figures.

"Man, do they ever look thick;" Bakura spoke up for the first time "Probably can't even read. Do you think they even have enough brains to tell which side is theirs in a fight?"

Crabbe glared at him speaking in his slow voice "I know that you're not on my side."

"Oh, wow, someone give the kid a gold medal, he knows how to talk." Yami exclaimed sarcastically. Crabbe and Goyle lunged at him. Yami sidestepped adroitly and looked to Bakura, who was the nearest, for help. Bakura grabbed Goyle and with a quick flick of his wrist sent the large Slytherin crashing into the wall as Marik did the same with Crabbe.

Everyone turned to stare at the boys as they turned back to their cauldrons with apparent nonchalance. Crabbe and Goyle were huge and these two were acting as though throwing them across the dungeon was nothing. Snape was not pleased that his class had been interrupted. He swept over to where Marik and Bakura were standing and glared at them.

"I do not tolerate disruptions in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor each. I trust that you are not neglecting your work for these foolish displays?" Snape stirred Marik's potion looking for any flaws in the mixture. Finding none he sniffed and stalked off, glaring around at the class impartially. "Get back to your work," He stopped to ridicule Neville's potion, which seemed to put him in a better mood.

Crabbe and Goyle got to their feet and lumbered back to Malfoy. They rubbed sore heads and glared at the group in a way that promised revenge once they got out of class. Harry swallowed audibly as their gaze passed over him and was surprised to see the three new students unaffected by the unnerving stare.

Later at Care of Magical Creatures Malfoy tried to set a Chimaera on them but Yami said hello to it and the beast stopped its snorting and bumped its head into his chest. Bakura muttered something about bugs and Marik elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"What did you do that for?" Bakura complained "It's not like I was really going to summon my bug. He would scare the whey out of everyone."

"Um," Yami put in curiously "What exactly is 'whey'"

Bakura gave him the Japanese word and, after Professor Grubbly-Plank had complimented Yami on his way with the Chimaera, the class went back to normal.

"There's something strange about those three isn't there?" Hermione asked Harry on the way back to the great hall. "I mean, first of all they're new in their fifth year, and it would take powerful magic to conceal their talent from Dumbledore. Then they come in, talk like they can do everything, throw Crabbe and Goyle across the room, and tame a Chimaera. It's strange you know; they shouldn't be able to do any of that stuff."

"Yeah," Ron said thoughtfully, "It does seem a bit... off, but still, surely there can't be anything really wrong with them can there? I mean, they are first year students after all, and Dumbledore wouldn't have brought them in if he thought they would be dangerous."

"I think we should ask them." Harry said firmly. "It wouldn't be right to go behind their backs but Hermione's right. There is something strange about them and I want to know what it is."

"Hey wait up." Ron yelled

"Man, you guys are slow," Yami commented as they waited for Harry's gang to catch up to them.

"Yeah, well actually we were sorta talking about you, so..." Ron flushed putting a hand in embarrassment.

"We figured," Marik told him. "Otherwise we would've slowed down. You're still slow though."

"So what is it you want to know?" Yami asked them as they reached the Great Hall. "And is it urgent or can it wait until after lunch?"

"Well," said Hermione briskly, "What we want to know really is, well, just what is so special about you three?"

"Can you give us an example?" Marik asked "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"First off, why _didn't_ Dumbledore find you before? I know we asked you already but you might have thought of something else since then. And then whatever you did with Crabbe and Goyle, and that thing with the Chimaera."

"Huh, that's a tall order. Yami said, amused "Okay then, first things first, yes I have been thinking about why Dumbledore didn't spot us before. I think it's because we just moved to England with Isis. She somehow got Dumbledore to look at us and he agreed that we have magic. I don't understand all that but I think that since we were in Japan for most of our lives we might have escaped Dumbledore's notice. This is an English school after all. As for those two muscle-bound idiots Bakura and Marik study jujitsu."

"Actually," Bakura interrupted "We study many different types of martial arts from all around the world. Jujitsu is merely the one that we are currently working on perfecting our knowledge of. And as for the thing with the Chimaera it's just that Yami gets on well with strange creatures."

"Yeah, okay then, I think I understand that." Harry told them, "But how did you see those Thestrals? You're not supposed to be able to see them unless you've seen death."

"We've all seen death." Marik's voice was somber, his mischievous gaze turned solemn for once. "My foster brother died trying to control the dragon."

"Oh," everyone fell silent feeling as though they had trespassed by prying into the boys' business.

"Come on, lunch is over so let's go up to our rooms to study." It was Bakura who finally broke the silence.

"We've only got a little while before the next class!" Hermione sounded panicked, "What has everyone got next?"

"We've got the same schedule," said Yami, taking over for the group as usual. "Transfiguration's next."

"Oh good," Hermione said, pleased, "That means we're together."

Once safe in their room Marik wasted no time in withdrawing to his soul room, presumably to take out his anger on Malik. Bakura did the same for reasons of his own and Yami, after making sure the door was locked, separated from Yugi. Yugi hugged him, happy that he had been let out and that Yami wasn't angry at him any more and the two of them started talking about Yami's day and what had happened to Rishid.

As has already been mentioned Yami wasn't as bad as the other two yamis but he had changed drastically since that time in Battle city. Rishido had summoned the winged dragon of Ra in his duel against Joey and the monster had rebelled. It had turned all of its considerable powers against Rishido striking a glancing blow off Joey and knocking him unconscious in the process. Rishid had been killed and everything had changed. Isis had given Yami and Bakura all of their memories in one great lump and Yami had once again become the cold calculating pharaoh. Marik, (who had been freed by Rishid's death) and Bakura had been the only ones who were brave enough to go near him for a while.

The two had managed to get him to a more normal frame of mind, but he had been changed that day and remained so. Before that he would never have even considered making friends with the other yamis, or condoning their treatment of the hikaris, but now he found that normal. It was how slaves had been treated back in his own time after all.

"You moved." Bakura leaned against the doorway staring at his now motionless hikari. Ryou didn't move or in any way acknowledge his presence. "Down boy," Without raising his eyes from the floor the hikari sank to his knees. "Now, why did you disobey my order?"

"I have no excuse master," Ryou's voice was almost a whisper.

"Good, I'm glad you've learned _that_ much at least." Suddenly Bakura was standing in front of where Ryou had been a moment ago and the unfortunate light was lying crumpled against the wall. "Idiot." Ryou pulled himself up to his knees, resuming his former posture of submission. "Now, what should I do to you, my disobedient little light?" The kick Ryou received a few seconds later told him he should have answered the question.

"Do whatever you wish Bakura-sama, it's your decision." Ryou bit his lip as another kick reminded him that he hadn't finished. "I was wrong and I deserve whatever punishment you choose to give me."

"Too right you do," Bakura snarled at him. The yami picked Ryou up by his hair and slammed him into the wall again before shoving the light onto the floor and twisting his arm roughly behind his back. Ryou screamed at the pain; it felt as though his arm would be ripped out. "Now," Bakura continued, placing his knee on the boy's back, "You _will_ learn not to disobey me."

It felt like hours before he left although in normal time it was only a few minutes. Ryou's throat was hoarse from all the screaming he'd done and he had been reminded once again of why he obeyed his yami. No-one could stand that kind of punishment for long without breaking, and he and Malik had both learned that. Actually, in that he was the lucky one. Marik just wanted something to take his frustrations out on. He didn't care whether or not Malik had done something wrong he would still find something to punish him for. At least Bakura only hit him when he had done something wrong.

And he had done something wrong. He wasn't allowed to move when Bakura told him not to and he'd twitched at the sight of their lunch on the screen Bakura had set up. It only appeared when Bakura wanted him to see something and it would show whatever Bakura wanted it to show. At that time it had simply been showing what Bakura was doing. Ryou hadn't eaten for days and when it had shown the lunch that the others had eaten he had reacted.

He didn't physically need to eat inside his soul room. Bakura ate and since Bakura was using his body he wouldn't die without food. He was still hungry though. Actually he was starving. Even though it wasn't necessary for him to consume food to survive he _couldn't_ survive without energy and he was used to his energy coming from food. When Bakura wasn't feeding it the ring drained what little energy he actually had. He sometimes thought that that was the only reason he was ever allowed to take control. The ring couldn't get enough energy just from him. Bakura, however, was used to being a conduit for the energy of the shadow realm. That was what made him and the other yamis so powerful.


	5. Ch 5 Wizardry is fun

Chapter 5

Transfiguration class was fun for the yamis although the regular students seemed to find it difficult. Ron in particular seemed to be having a bad time, whereas Hermione acted no different than she had in their other classes. To the yamis it was a simple matter of willpower. As Marik had mentioned earlier you only had to be able to picture it and it became possible.

They were working on turning matchsticks into knives by first transforming the match into a needle and then changing the needle into a knife. Knives fascinated the yamis and they each had quite a collection of them by the end of the class (at least five each). They had designed the knives to match their wands so Marik's knives were either solid gold or steel with a gold handle. Yami's knives were steel with golden handles and had patterns in ruby and gold along the blades. Bakura's knives had the most variety. He had knives with onyx blades, plain knives made of seven folded steel, and knives that were carved all over with strange designs.

Everyone stared at the knives, fascinated not only by the fact that they were perfect but because they were so different from the plain kitchen knife that McGonagall had produced. Each knife was different and the boys refused to allow their knives to be touched. The knives were quickly placed inside their bags, seeming to vanish. One boy grabbed Yami's bag off him and searched it trying to get a look but was severely disappointed. Not only did he not manage to find anything but McGonagall gave him detention as well.

In Herbology, their next class, they learned once again how good Yami was. The plants that he was working with never tried to attack or go against him or anything. Marik came out with scratches all over from where he had practically gotten into a wrestling match with one of the plants and Yami was the only one left untouched. The class headed back into the building to wash up and then the groups separated. The Yamis were going to study Ancient Runes and Harry's gang was going to Divination.

"I wonder what we're actually going to do in Ancient Runes." Marik said as they walked. "I mean, they're doing hieroglyphs and we know those already."

"_I_ wonder how much more they're going to get wrong." Bakura told them. "It'll be fun to correct the teacher."

"Well there were several different types of writing, but yes, I have noticed quite a few mistakes already..." The boys gave each other mischievous grins and headed into the classroom.

Divination the next day was interesting. Bakura impressed Professor Trelawney with his skill in reading the Tarot and the older students finally found the Professor's strong point. She and Bakura got into spirited discussions of different spreads to use for the Tarot deck, what color candles were to be used when you were trying to see in smoke patterns and how many of each color (Bakura favored two black or equal numbers of black and white while the Professor used mainly pink), and the differing meanings of different symbols depending on the different circumstances and backgrounds of the person in question.

They were assigned a ten inch essay to complete and hand in within the week on what the symbolic meanings of different colors were. Trelawney had given them several suggestions. These included everything from the most obvious, a study of the English meanings and usages of certain colors, to an essay showing how colors were used in historical settings.

"You know we've never had such a normal homework assignment from Professor Trelawney before?" Harry asked them on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Really, she seemed quite interesting to me," Bakura told him, "Definitely not a real seer though, if she gets visions once or twice in her lifetime she should count herself lucky. She won't be able to call up visions on purpose and if she does ever have a vision she'll probably not remember it afterwards. Still, she's interesting. It's not often that you meet someone who knows that much about the art and has that much potential without the mental discipline to do anything with it. If she wasn't as old as she is I'd try to teach her."

"Yeah, yeah, spare us the lectures please." Yami said. Hermione looked at him, startled, she'd been interested. She wasn't the only one either. Harry was impressed and Marik looked disappointed that Yami had stopped the 'lecture'.

They turned into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and sat down. Professor Umbridge was seated at the teacher's desk, still wearing the horrible pink cardigan and bow. "Well, good morning!" She said to them after they had all taken their seats.

The answering "Good morning," was only vouchsafed to her by a few people. The yamis were included in this group, standing to bow politely.

"Tut, tut. _That_ won't do, now, will it?" said the Professor, "I should like you, please, to reply 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge." One more time please. Good morning class!"

"Good morning, Professor Umbridge." Said most of the class back to her. This time it was the yamis who didn't reply.

"There now," she said. "That wasn't too hard, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

"Oh, good, we can finally get rid of these stupid sticks." muttered Yami.

"What! I've never had a good class where I haven't used a wand."

"What about potions?" Marik asked but Harry's tart reply was interrupted by the Professor who had started talking again as the words 'Defense Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles' appeared on the blackboard.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year." She smiled sweetly at them and continued.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following please."

'Course aims:

Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.

Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.

Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

Once everyone had finished writing down her three aims she asked, "Has everybody got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?" A few people muttered assent.

"I think we'll try that again. When I ask you a question I would like you to reply 'Yes Professor Umbridge,' or 'No Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes Professor Umbridge," said everyone in the room dully.

"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge sat down in her chair again to watch them as four hands shot into the air.

"Excuse the interruption Professor, but would you mind explaining how this theory will work in the real world?"

"This is school, Mr. Ishtar, not the real world,"

"So we're not going to be ready to face what's waiting for us out there?" Harry asked her, sounding furious.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."

"Oh, yeah?" Harry, Malik, Yami, and Bakura all asked her simultaneously.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" Professor Umbridge's voice was coated in honey.

"Well, let me think... _Voldemort_ maybe?" Harry asked sarcastically.

The reaction was huge and immediate. Ron gasped, Neville fell of his chair, and many of the students went white. The new kids rolled their eyes. Umbridge didn't even flinch. Actually she looked rather pleased.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Now, let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain dark wizard has returned from the dead."

"I haven't been told anything, I _saw_ him return."

"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," Professor Umbridge said all this very fast without taking a breath in between words. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie_."

"It is not a lie! I saw him! I even had to fight him."

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge looked triumphant. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, _this is a lie_. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five 'Basics for Beginners.'"

Harry stood up. "Sit down," Marik hissed at him pushing him back into his chair, "That's not what I was talking about anyway. Let us do this."

Bakura raised his hand. "I don't know anything about Voldemort professor, but I don't think that's what my friend was talking about. The problem is that the textbook doesn't make sense."

Idiot Marik heard Malik's thought and privately decided to skip lunch to punish him for that. This was serious. Marik wasn't going to have his hikari insulting his... friends, yeah, that's Bakura was, a friend. Anyway, this was one thing that he wasn't going to stand for, and it wasn't just a justification either. This would provide an opportunity to try that spell he'd found in transfiguration too.

"What do you mean by that dear?" Professor Umbridge asked him, "You haven't even started reading it yet."

"Oh, Isis made us memorize all our course books before we came. It's just that I don't agree with most of the stuff in here, that is the stuff that's actually understandable and not just pretty words."

"How can a word be pretty, dear?" Professor Umbridge's look had turned motherly as soon as Bakura had started talking.

"May I show you?" Bakura asked picking up a piece of chalk and gesturing at the blackboard.

"Certainly dear," People were staring at her wondering what had caused this sudden attitude change. Bakura walked up to the blackboard and began to write something. When he stepped back the board was covered in hieroglyphs.

"What are those?" asked Seamus incredulously.

The Professor's expression changed dramatically as she looked at him and sharply ordered him not to talk without raising his hand. "What do they say dear?" she inquired then, "They look interesting but I can't read them."

"Oh," Bakura flushed slightly, "Sorry, I forgot." He quickly erased the marks and rewrote it, this time a long, involved, speech about the beauty of the lotus plant. Everyone stared at it in disbelief.

"I didn't know you liked flowers Bakura." Yami's tone was mocking, "And you're wandering from the subject. The point is that whether this particular Dark wizard is dead or not, we are still in need of protection."

Before the Professor could answer the bell rang. She dismissed them, holding Bakura back for a moment to whisper something in his ear, and telling them all to have the chapter read by the next day.

"What did she say to you?" Marik asked once they were in the hall sounding slightly envious.

"Apparently I remind her of her favorite nephew. Ra that was annoying. If she wasn't the teacher I would've killed her for treating me like a little kid. And don't you start." He glared at Yami who had patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"Aw, come on, we have to go to Care of Magical Creatures and you're holding us up." Yami tugged Bakura's sleeve and managed to get him moving again.

At Care of Magical creatures they learned about Bowtruckles, small creatures that looked as though they were made out of sticks. Professor Grubbly-Plank told them that Bowtruckles ate woodlice and fairy eggs and lived in trees. These tree-guardians preferred trees that were suitable for making wands out of; and could be quite fierce in their defense of their trees. Bakura wondered out loud how many Bowtruckles had been hurt or killed by wizards, and was treated to the best glare that the Professor could summon.

At lunch time Marik excused himself saying that he wasn't hungry and was just going to go up to his room. When he got there he slammed the door shut and grabbed a piece of rope, glaring at it until it turned into a whip. He got a satisfied smirk at his success and separated from his hikari.

When the light cleared and both of them were clearly visible, Malik started trembling uncontrollably. He didn't know what had happened but it had to have been something bad. Marik looked _angry_. Then Malik's eyes fell on the whip in his yami's hand and he froze. Marik glared at him and he quickly dropped to his knees. He was in enough trouble already; it wouldn't do to get Marik any madder.

"I heard what you said in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Marik's voice was low and angry. Malik's trembling began again as Marik circled him, stopping and snapping the whip on his back. Malik screamed as Marik lashed him. Malik heard the crack again and flinched automatically, waiting for the blow to fall. It never did.

Malik looked up slowly. Bakura was standing there with the whip wrapped around his wrist, his normally pale face white with fury. "Get out." He ordered through clenched teeth. Marik looked at him, shocked.

"But-"

"I said get out. Now."

Marik stared at him for a moment longer before slowly nodding, dropping the whip, and backing out the door. Bakura glared at the whip until it vanished in a curl black smoke and then turned to Malik who quailed.

"Take off your shirt."

Malik obeyed, trembling, and waited for the next order. He wasn't sure what was going on but he was sure that whatever it was it couldn't be good. Bakura turned him around and retreated into his soul room long enough to find a jar of ointment which he brought back into the real world with him. Malik's trembling stopped when he felt Bakura's hands gently covering his back with something that seemed to numb the pain. When Bakura had finished he grabbed a shirt and handed it to Malik ordering him to put it on. It was then that he noticed the carvings on Malik's chest. He smirked, anger gone for the moment and headed out the door with a parting command for Malik to stay in the room.

AN. As in chapter three I have copied what Umbridge says directly from the book. Well except when she's babying Bakura. Sorry 'Kura, I couldn't resist. So don't get mad at me please. Runs away from furious hottie


	6. Ch 6 Traps and food

Chapter 6

"What were you doing up in your room for so long?" Harry asked Bakura at dinner. "Marik came back and said you were doing something but he didn't know what. You were almost late for Charms"

"Nothing important, just finding out a few things," Bakura winked at Yami, "I didn't know I was so popular."

Ron gave him a weird look and Marik blushed. Yami's eyebrows rose noticeably but he didn't say anything. Bakura just turned his attention back to his food.

"Hey," Malfoy had come up to sneer at them. "I know what you are."

"Really, what's that?" Marik asked him.

"No, not you, I mean the freaky one. You're not only stupid you're a bully. And you know why bullies do what they do don't you?" Malfoy sneered at Bakura.

"Yeah, 'cause they're afraid, will you leave me alone now?" Bakura asked him dully not looking up.

"What's with you? Are you okay?" Malfoy looked concerned for a second but when he didn't receive a reply he shrugged and swept off muttering "Whatever,"

"Wow," Ron looked impressed, "I've never seen Malfoy actually be civil to a Gryffindor before."

"Malfoy's never been civil to anyone outside of Slytherin before. What's happened to him?" Hermione joined in.

"Maybe he's actually growing a brain to fill that empty skull of his." Yami suggested.

"Or maybe you just don't know him." Bakura's comment caused all of them to turn and stare at him.

"Are you sure you're okay? If you're seeing some good in Malfoy there must be something wrong with you."

"I'm fine, just tired. If you don't mind I'm going to bed." He left without waiting for an answer and the others just shrugged and went back to their conversation.

"So why _did_ Malfoy act like that do you know?" Harry asked.

"No idea myself but Bakura's probably right." Marik told them absently.

"What, you actually think that Malfoy's really a good person. If so then you're way too trusting. I mean Malfoy of all people!"

"I'm sure he doesn't mean anything like that." Yami said, "Isn't Umbrage a terror though!"

"She's horrible, and I've still got that detention with her tonight. Speaking of detentions I've gotta go. I should be there in two minutes."

"Okay, Harry, see ya tomorrow then." Ron said.

"Yeah, later. So what did you think of the ancient runes class?" Hermione asked, turning to Yami. "I took that class one year but quit because it was too hard trying to do everything at once."

"It was okay, I guess. Not much good really, they got a lot of things wrong but better than I would have expected."

"Wrong? The teachers don't get things wrong. The things they teach have been carefully researched and have been proved to be correct." Hermione looked shocked that he would even consider thinking such a thing.

"Yeah, but then this is ancient stuff so it is logical to assume that there is a margin for error is it not?" Yami said, amused.

"Well, yes, but-"

"We know they got some of the things wrong. They're studying hieroglyphs and I grew up in Egypt." Marik told her.

"Well, I guess you could be right."

"Hey, I wonder when Quidditch tryouts are going to be. When are you guys going to learn how to fly?"

"Does it matter? I mean learning to fly on broomsticks just so we can play this weird sport of yours? We already know how to fly."

This got them Ron's immediate undivided attention as he tried to persuade them that it was worth it. Unluckily for him he said that Quidditch was the best game in the world. This, of course, triggered another argument and they spent the rest of the evening arguing about which was better, Quidditch or Duel Monsters.

When they all pronounced themselves ready to go to bed it turned out that Yami and Marik didn't remember which dormitory was theirs. Harry showed them the door and tried to open it. Instantly a pit appeared under him and he fell through into the Gryffindor Common Room. The pit vanished as soon as he had fallen through it.

"Are you okay?" said Yami who had rushed down as soon as he had seen Harry fall through. "Sorry about that I should have warned you."

"What happened?" Lavender asked

"Oh, Harry here activated our safety feature. We forgot to tell him that we'd spelled the door." Marik was smirking as he said this.

"Oh, okay, I'm fine, see ya tomorrow."

"Ya see ya." Marik waved and dragged Yami up the stairs with him.

"Mind explaining why the door was booby trapped Marik?" Yami asked him in an undertone.

"I left Malik up there and forgot about it. That's probably what 'Kura was doing for so long, cleaning up the mess I made."

"Ah, I see. Negate magic, activate." The card glowed and Yami and Marik were able to pass safely through. Once in they stopped, staring at the scene before them. Bakura and Ryou were curled up on his bed together, a small smile curving Bakura's lips as he lay there with his arms wrapped around his hikari.

Marik looked envious although he was obviously trying to suppress his emotions as he stared at the pair on the bed. Then his attention shifted to Malik who was sprawled out in the corner. "Malik," he snarled. The boy jerked awake, trembling at the sound of his voice. "What happened here?"

"W-when do you mean master?" Malik's voice was shaking as he spoke.

"Ever since I left this room, fool. And why are you wearing Bakura's shirt." Acid dripped from Marik's voice.

"W-when you l-left B-Bakura c-cleaned my back off and gave me this shirt instead of the other one. My one is over there." Marik nodded looking slightly mollified. "Then he left and I went to sleep over here. I didn't wake up until he came in again."

Here Malik paused obviously unsure of what to do next. "Go _on_ Baka." Said Marik, annoyed at the hesitation.

"H-he changed into his PJs and then couldn't seem to stay in his bed. He jumped out like it was full of hot coals. Then he put the trap on the door and separated from Ryou. Ryou was asleep already and Bakura just picked him up and put him in his bed before climbing in himself and going to sleep. I don't know what happened after that; I sort of fell asleep again."

Marik nodded and took over Malik's body again. Yami smirked and grabbed his clothes disappearing for a moment and reappearing ready for bed. The two soon joined the rest of the castle in sleep.

Bakura yawned and stretched, waking up from one of the most comfortable nights he had ever spent. It took him a while to notice the terrified Ryou staring up at him from the bed. When he did he smirked and trailed a lazy hand through the boy's hair. Ryou, if anything, looked even more terrified than before. Bakura shrugged at that, and vanished, once again taking control of Ryou's body.

Back in his soul room Ryou breathed a sigh of relief. When he'd woken up in Bakura's bed like that his mind had immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. What had happened, though, had convinced him that nothing like _that_ was going on. Nothing would have stopped Bakura from having his fun if that had been what he'd wanted. It had been a shock waking up like that because Bakura had never shown any evidence of wanting to do anything like that to Ryou. Apparently Ryou's translation of Bakura's actions had been correct though, as Bakura hadn't acted like anything unusual was going on. Now Ryou's biggest concern was his hunger.

The yamis went down to breakfast but Bakura excused himself, taking some food and heading off to eat by himself. Marik looked wistfully after him and Yami whistled. "Whatever it was you did, he sure is taking it hard."

"But that's just it; I didn't do anything." Marik protested as Bakura's figure vanished from sight.

Bakura, meanwhile, climbed up to the top of one of the more isolated towers, getting himself completely lost in process. Once at the top he separated from Ryou again and calmly perched on the edge and started eating a piece of toast. After a minute he noticed that Ryou, who was kneeling in front of him, was staring at the food. As he looked at the boy Ryou's stomach gave an audible rumble and Ryou both blushed in embarrassment and trembled in fear.

Bakura just smirked again and broke off a piece of the toast, placing it against Ryou's lips and waiting. He was pleased by the reaction. Ryou's eyes got huge and he stared at the toast like he had never seen anything like it before. Glancing up at Bakura for permission the hikari took the food with his teeth and consumed it. He ate it slowly, trying to make it last, as he wasn't sure when he would next get to eat.

Bakura chuckled and alternated between feeding himself and Ryou. It wasn't much but Ryou was grateful for anything Bakura gave him. Bakura wasn't nice often so this was an occurrence to be savored. Unluckily for this plan Bakura had a class to get to so as soon as the food was gone he tossed Ryou back into his soul room and took over again.

During classes Bakura and Marik both seemed distracted. During Defense Against the Dark Arts Yami drew random pictures and Bakura just stared off into space. Marik spent most of his time alternating between staring at Bakura and his desk.

At lunch Bakura again grabbed some food and ran off. This time however, Marik followed him. When Marik finally caught up with him he found Bakura again sitting on the parapet of the tower feeding Ryou tidbits while he ate lunch. Marik was understandably surprised at the scene. He half expected Bakura to glare at him and order him to go away. With the way the fiend had been avoiding him it would be the obvious course of action although he wasn't planning on acceding to the other's wishes.

"Hey Marik, care to join me? I just hope you brought your own lunch 'cause I'm not sharing."

Marik laughed relievedly, displaying the tin full of sandwiches and separating from Malik as this was obviously the correct thing to do at the moment. He perched on the edge next to Bakura and started eating as Malik came over to kneel on the other side of Bakura, purposely staying as far away from Marik as possible without breaking the rules.

"So I guess I owe you an explanation." Bakura wouldn't look up as he said this.

"Only if you want to explain, I don't care as long as you stop avoiding me."

Bakura laughed and tossed Malik an apple, "Alright then, I was sorta dreading having to explain anyway. Just, don't use whips again. Ever." It was not a request.

Ryou's eyes grew as wide as saucers at the mention of whips. He'd never had one used on him and didn't want to; and if Marik had been using one then that meant Malik...

"Okay, whatever you say goes. Why are you feeding my hikari by the way?"

"'Cause I feel like it. You don't mind do you?"

"No, just wondering. Do what you like with him, I don't care." Malik shivered at the words spoken so calmly that could decide whether or not he would be able to move tomorrow. Ryou looked slightly envious for a moment before shrugging and ignoring it.

"I don't really want to do anything. Except sit here of course." Marik chuckled at that last. After a silent lunch they headed off to Divination which was again an interesting lesson as Marik led them into a discussion of how the future can be altered; using the way Isis's vision had been nullified by Seto's actions as a basis for his ideas. Professor Trelawney was adamant in her view that the future could not changed while Bakura stayed out of this argument, spending his time instead on looking through the Professor's cupboards at all her stuff.

Some of the things he seemed rather impressed by although most of them he passed over disgustedly. There was one crystal ball that he pulled out and asked where it had come from. "Oh, it was given to me dear." Professor Trelawney trilled happily looking at the black crystal held in place with delicate twists of silver wire. "The most delightful man, he said that someone would come for it someday who would be able to use it. Apparently it's destined for a special person. There's another like it, only that one is even more special. I've never been able to see anything in either of them."

"Of course not," Bakura was matter-of-fact about it. "Only the true owners of these can see in them. Could you bring out the other two please?"

"How did you know there were two others?" The professor's voice shook slightly at this revelation, "I only told you about one."

"Look," Bakura held out the crystal which he held between his cupped hands out to the professor and everyone could see the images which flashed through it. Yami and Marik dressed in strange Egyptian garb gazing into the brother crystals which hovered in the air before them. Yami's was of gold wire with a ruby stone and Marik's was also gold although his stone was a milky white with veins of light violet running through it.

"Wow," the students breathed in amazement. This was the first time they had actually seen anything in a crystal ball other than the strange half formed cloud shapes that normally appeared. These clear, sharp images were much more than those.

The professor looked and brought the others giving them to their respective owners. Yami stared at his in shock. "I never thought I'd see this again."

"So this did belong to you before?"

"In my past life, yes it did."

The bell ringing signaled the end of both class and conversation and they left with their crystals. The chatter of the boys in the hall swirled around them as they stared at the crystals. Finally Marik looked up at them.

"I _remember,_ but, how? I wasn't there was I? Malik made me; I'm not some ancient spirit or anything."

"No, you've been reincarnated like Seto."

"Oh, I get it now. Cool."

Bakura completely ignored everything during Potions class, instead fiddling with his crystal, twisting the wire into different shapes. Snape was not happy about this and swept up to him staring inside his empty cauldron. "I _thought_ you were here to learn potions Mr. Bakura. Why are you not making the Draught of Peace that I have been instructing you on?"

"I hate potions." Bakura's voice was calm and devoid of any emotion.

"And why do you not enjoy this class?" Snape was hissing now.

"It's not the class. I just don't like the subject matter." Bakura still wasn't letting emotion into his voice.

"Would. You. Mind. Explaining. Why. You. Don't. Like. Potions."

"Yes, I would. If you want to know then read my mind and find out."

"If you want me to then I will." Snape glared at him. "Report to me after dinner. In the meantime I strongly suggest you make the potion as I told you to."

Bakura sighed and poked his wand at the cauldron which immediately became filled with a liquid the surface of which was a light silver vapor just as it was supposed to be. "What did you do?" Snape hissed at him.

"I just took a shortcut so I wouldn't have to actually make the potion when I could simply conjure up the finished ingredients."

"Potions is not simply a case of the results. It will be interesting to see how it tests out." Snape turned to address the class. "Fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Friday."

Bakura filled one flagon with a sample and poured the rest of his potion into a small glass jar that couldn't possibly have held that much liquid. The other yamis did the same before they brought their flagons up to Snape and left.


	7. Ch 7 Mind readers

Chapter 7

"Did you mean that about letting him read your mind?" asked Harry at Herbology thinking of his Occlumency lessons.

"Yes; and if he can manage to find anything in there other than what I want him to see then he's better than I thought he was." Bakura's tone was cool and confident.

"But Snape is really good at it. He's teaching Harry Occlumency," Hermione protested.

Marik blinked at her. "What's Occlumency?"

"He's trying to teach Harry how to seal his mind against magic or something." Ron told them.

"Occlumency seals the mind against magical influence and intrusion." Hermione sounded like she was quoting from some textbook. "It's opposite, Legilimency, is the ability to extract feelings and memories from another persons mind."

"So you're saying that Snape is a mind-reader?" Yami asked.

"No, Snape gave me quite a lecture on that. He says it's nothing as simple as mind reading; that thoughts aren't just written down for you to read..." What are you all staring at me for?"

"You actually paid attention to Snape?" Ron asked him.

"Of course I..." Harry was interrupted by Hermione.

"Of course he did Ron. This isn't something minor. It could prevent you-know-who from getting into his mind and finding out everything from it."

What does he mean your thoughts aren't written down in your mind?" asked Yami incredulously, "Is he stupid or something?"

"Not everyone keeps a mental diary like you do Yami." Marik told him scathingly. "And besides, it depends on your perception of your mind. This perception is influenced both by thoughts of the one whose mind you're reading and the person who's reading your mind."

"How would you know," Hermione asked suspiciously.

"At one time I owned an item that allowed me to see inside other's minds." Marik told her calmly.

"Also we have been taught to go inside our own minds." Yami said, "I've got a big book in there that records all my thoughts."

"Mine swirl around inside the walls." said Marik looking bored.

"Yeah, and mine are written on the walls. In various languages. And in code. And in hieroglyphs no matter what language it is. So there's no chance of anyone ever understanding them."

"Isn't that a little excessive?" Hermione asked superciliously, "I mean it's not as if anyone's going to try and get into your mind in the first place is it?"

"Yes," Yami's voice was amused. "Many people have tried to read our minds for various reasons."

"Well you don't exactly take precautions against them do you?" Hermione was being self-righteous.

"Actually, yes; my mind is a maze. It's so hard to get around that I've managed to get lost there myself. And the way a lot of the stairs and things are upside down doesn't help much either."

"So yours is really just as well guarded as theirs?" asked Hermione at the same time as Ron said, "I don't understand a word of this, could you explain it to me."

Marik grinned, "Yes to Hermione and no to Ron. This isn't something that can be easily explained and it would take at least a year to get you to understand what we're talking about even without all the schoolwork we have to do."

'Why did I have to say that?' Malfoy fumed. He still hadn't gotten over what had happened the day before. 'It's not as if it made any difference to him. He's just like all the rest of the stupid Gryffindors. Well he and his friends can just go to hell for all I care. Bastards.'

It wasn't till then that he noticed Bakura standing in front of him. "Yes," he snapped.

"I, well, I just wanted to say thank you, you know for actually caring. And, I'm... sorry for ignoring you. I just... Oh I don't know. I'm sorry." And he ran off, face red.

"O –oh," Malfoy stared after him in amazement. So did the other boys around him. 'This,' thought Malfoy 'Is why I asked.' No Gryffindor had ever apologized to a Slytherin without having to be coerced by a teacher before. Then they turned to stare at Malfoy.

"Caring, Malfoy?" sneered Pansy. "That's low, actually caring for a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, what did he mean '_caring' _Draco?" Marcus Flint didn't look happy.

"Nothing important," Malfoy told them flippantly, mind racing, "He was just ignoring me while I insulted him so I asked if he was okay. I can normally get a rise out of anyone and I wasn't pleased at his lack of response."

Pansy giggled, animosity forgotten. "And he thought you cared, Man he must be thick."

"Yeah," Crabbe agreed dully.

"How would you know Crabbe, you're probably thicker than he is." Malfoy stalked off to the Slytherin dormitories muttering under his breath. He had finally had someone talk to him for some reason other than his position as a Malfoy or to insult him 'cause they thought he was a git and his so-called 'friends' had to ruin it. Some friends they were. He wanted to talk to someone who saw him as just another person.

"Hey Bakura what were you doing over there? You do realize that was the Slytherin table don't you?" Ron asked curiously.

"And why are you blushing?" Hermione added shrewdly.

"I don't like apologizing that's all," Bakura slipped into the space next to Marik. "I don't do it often you know."

"And why would you need to apologize to a Slytherin?" Harry's tone was ominous.

"I, unlike you, don't really care about the inter-house rivalries." Bakura told him sharply. "They seem to me like childish arguments and I'm not going to become involved in them. I was apologizing to Malfoy for ignoring him." With that he turned his attention pointedly to his plate.

"I agree with him," Yami spoke up, "Although I don't see why he suddenly feels the need to apologize inter-house rivalries don't serve any useful purpose and should be disposed of. Of course I still think Malfoy's a git but I'll withhold my judgment from the other Slytherins."

"So speaks the great pharaoh," Marik mocked, "Of course you're right though."

"I don't see it. And you'll soon figure out that out. Isn't Bakura supposed to see Snape now? He'll find out there just how vile Slytherins can be." This, surprisingly enough, was Hermione. She had decided that Malfoy was the role model for the rest of the Slytherins and thus all Slytherins were bad.

"No, I've got a couple of minutes. Snape only just left the great hall and I'm going to wait for him to get himself ready first."

"Better not keep him waiting long. He gets really mad at tardiness." Ron warned.

"Okay, okay, I'm going already." Bakura got up from the table and slipped out of the great hall.

"Why do I get the feeling that something's going to go wrong?" Yami asked.

Walking to the dungeons Bakura cleared his mind of everything but the memories he wanted Snape to see. The corridors got smaller and darker as he walked along. When he finally got to Snape's office Snape was waiting for him, a sneer curling his mouth. "So, you can't even arrive on time? Five points from Gryffindor for your tardiness. And now prepare yourself. Having memories extracted from you is a disturbing process for some. _Leglimus_!" Light erupted from his wand toward Bakura and Bakura suddenly found himself barraged by a bunch of someone else's memories. _A little greasy-haired kid cowering in the corner while his parents fought. The same boy, grown older and in Hogwarts robes staring at a test that had been done badly. The kid being picked on by a bully with messy black hair and green eyes._

And then as soon as they had begun the memories stopped. Bakura opened his eyes to see Snape staring at him wide-eyed. "How, did you, do that?" Snape panted.

"Do what? I didn't do anything! You did something weird and suddenly I was getting your memories. What did _you_ do?"

"I- I did nothing. This was you. You're excused for now. Go back, back to wherever you came from. I will see you next Potions class." Snape still looked shocked and not too happy.

"Yes sir." Bakura bowed politely and left.

"So you see how strange that was?" Bakura said, "Instead of him looking through my memories I got his."

"He must not be that good then if you got into his head on accident." Marik was laughing at Bakura's rendition of his talk with Snape. He'd made Snape look like an idiot, or like Malfoy, not that there was any difference between the two.

"Yeah, I would've expected different. At least you shouldn't have gotten into his memories on accident!" Hermione looked shocked at this evidence that Snape wasn't as good as she had thought.

"Ah well, we ought to be heading to Transfiguration now." Yami commented, staring at Hermione. "We don't want to be late for McGonagall."

"Yeah," Marik stood up. "Anyone but McGonagall, she's a dragon. C'mon let's go already."

The others laughed and followed him to Transfiguration where they learned vanishing spells. They didn't have time to talk again until lunch time and Bakura disappeared again with Marik following him.

"Where did they go do you think?" Hermione asked Yami.

"Probably somewhere they're not supposed to be but haven't been specifically told not to go. I'd guess somewhere dangerous. I just hope they remember that we've got to learn how to fly a broomstick after lunch."

"So what are we doing this for?" Marik asked, feeding Malik another grape.

"I'm doing this 'cause I feel like it." Bakura said, doing the same for Ryou. It had been his example which had started this. "I don't know about you. It's nice to have you here though."

"Really?" Marik blushed, turning his head to hide the red in his cheeks. "It's nice of you to say so."

The silence that followed was companionable until Marik suddenly swore possessing Malik again. "We've got to learn how to do this thing on broomsticks right now, remember?"

Bakura followed his lead, also swearing and just jumped off the tower with Marik right after him. They used shadow magic to control their landings and ran around the corner to where Madame Hooch and Yami were waiting. "'Bout time you got here." Yami told them, "We were about to start without you."

"We would not have started without them." Madame Hooch's voice was severe. "However they would have both been given detentions if they had been any later. You are Bakura and Marik, correct?"

"Yes," They chorused listlessly.

"I am here to teach you three how to fly. You will learn the basics of broom control and what to do in the air. As the Quidditch team has some vacancies if you do well enough you may be able to get on the team. Now step over to beside your brooms like so and say 'up'." Her broom jumped into her hand at her voice.

The boys followed her lead and the broomsticks obediently jumped up. "Good, now mount your broom. Like so." She showed them how to mount and grip their brooms although she seemed slightly surprised at their ignorance. "Now kick off gently." They kicked of and went shooting into the air, where they hovered, apparently completely at home in the air. Trouble came, however, when she tried to teach them how to steer.

"Go left you stupid broom, no I said _left_, not right, _left_." They seemed to think that the brooms would obey their spoken commands. They did use their knees to try and steer but did it all wrong.

The session ended with all four participants covered in bruises. All, because they had slammed into Madam Hooch several times as they tried to land. Madame Hooch took them all up to Madame Pomfrey to get fixed up. Madame Pomfrey clucked over them and shook her head in depreciation of such dangerous games as Quidditch.

Later at Defense Against the Dark Arts they told about what had happened at their first flying lesson and the lesson they had learned. 'Never ever get on one of those things. And I mean never.' They laughed but Ron was extremely disappointed that they would never agree with him on the subject of Quidditch.

Umbridge's class was about boring as it was possible to be. The yamis found it even more boring than Professor Binns's classes but Harry and Ron thought that that was an exaggeration. On their way to Charms they argued about which was worse, Defense Against the Dark Arts the way it was taught by Umbridge or History of Magic the way Binns taught it.

Charms lesson was total chaos. Professor Flitwick was having them all review stunning spells and a lot of people missed. They hit everything but what they were supposed to hit. The Professor finally had to yell at them all in his high squeaky voice to get them all to stop so that he could fix things up. The whole class was assigned a fourteen foot long essay on the dangers of stunning spells as a punishment for their misbehavior.


	8. Ch 8 Screams in the night

Chapter 8

"I'm sorry," whimpered Malik that night in his soul room. This time Yami and Yugi had joined them on the tower roof for dinner. Yami hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on, just staring out into space and had accidentally kicked him. That wasn't what was wrong however. The problem was that to avoid being kicked again he'd shifted and nearly knocked Ryou and Bakura off the edge. Needless to say Marik hadn't been happy.

Now, of course, Malik was bearing the full force of his yami's wrath. He was already covered in blood and bruises and unable to move and Marik hadn't shown any signs of stopping. "Shut your mouth you filthy little bastard," Marik growled at him. "This is your own fault you know." He kicked Malik in the gut, making him start hacking up blood to join the growing pool on the floor.

A yawn was heard from behind them and Marik spun around to see Bakura standing there eyes closed and hair rumpled looking as though he just got out of bed. "Come _on_ Marik," He said irritably without opening his eyes. "It's almost morning already."

"What woke you up then?" Marik asked pleasantly, delivering yet another kick to his long-suffering hikari. Malik's pained cry startled Bakura into opening his eyes. He raised an ironic eyebrow choosing to answer the question with one of his own.

"Been busy haven't you?"

"Yes; and you're avoiding the question. How did you get in here anyway?"

"Fine then, Ryou had a nightmare and woke me up. I tried to go into my soul room to get away from the fuss he was making and found myself in here instead. You know you might seriously want to consider what I said. If you keep up with this you're going to kill him."

"Yeah, whatever," Marik waved his hand dismissively. Bakura gave him a _look_ and he sighed. "Okay, okay I'll think about it about it. That good enough for you?"

Bakura sighed and nodded. "What happened?" He asked.

"What do you mean what happened, you saw what happened."

"No, I mean to you," Bakura replied kneeling beside Malik. "You never used to go this far. Actually you've changed a lot since the end of Battle City. Why?"

"Can we take this somewhere else? Away from my hikari? And you still haven't told me why you're here."

"I think one of the items pulled me in here to make sure you didn't kill Malik. You really did seem to be awfully close to it."

"Really?" Marik stared at him horrified. Sure he liked to hit Malik but he wouldn't actually want the brat dead. Besides if Malik died how would he work out his anger?

"I wouldn't joke about something like that." Bakura tipped his head to one side, "My hikari's still awake so how about you send Malik out so Ryou can patch him up while we talk."

"Yeah, I guess," Marik sounded subdued as he sent Malik out of the room with the usual flashing of light from the rod. Soft singing began in the background. "And I know I've been different since after Battle City. It's no big deal; I'm just trying to adjust to being friends with Yami and to not be cooped up in my soul room all the time. It's a relief you know."

"Marik if you're trying to say you're doing this out of relief..." Bakura gestured at the bloodstained room. "Why don't you clean it up by the way?"

"Never thought about it. Are you trying to stop me from doing this?"

"You can do whatever you want. No matter how stupid I think it is I'm not going to stop you. It's just... worrying, seeing you change like this."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's not really the relief it's more that, well, now I'm in control. I'm not trapped inside my mind most of the time. I'm spending more time outside of my soul room than ever before and it's... difficult. Suddenly I have time to _do_ things. Now instead of just thinking someone's an asshole I can actually tell them that they are."

"That's going to come in useful," Bakura commented dryly.

"Oh shut up, you know that's not really what I meant." But Marik was laughing, his tense mood broken by the simple joke. "It's just, it, sorta put more stress on me than I thought it would. You wouldn't understand really, 'cause you had a life of your own before you were trapped in the ring, and then you could always make Ryou take over and diffuse the situation. Me on the other hand, I was made by Malik who didn't have any knowledge of the outside world in the first place. Then, well, you know Malik; he's more likely to irritate a situation until it gets out of hand. So it's not really feasible to let him have control when I get in trouble and I don't want to anyway. After spending so much time in my soul room it gets, smaller sort of."

"Uncomfortable," Bakura interrupted, "Like the walls are pressing in on you and you're trapped inside and everything's wrong because your fear just makes it worse and it goes on forever in an endless cycle."

"Yeah, yeah, that's it. And I've just been taking my stress out on Malik because I don't care what he thinks of me."

Bakura stepped forward to embrace Marik lightly before stepping back a slight tinge of red crossing his cheeks. "I'm glad you care about what I, well, what Yami and I think of you. And I do see what you're talking about. Just, just try to loosen up a little huh? Shove your frustrations into some object. It works for me."

"What do you mean shove my frustrations into an object?"

A knife appeared in Bakura's hands, "Well you see you just try to imagine all the bad feelings or the thoughts that you wants to get rid of flowing into whatever it is. It also has the interesting effect of making the object more powerful and sometimes unpredictable. I've used this knife for it enough that it does weird things sometimes. It seems to be my thoughts that trigger it now. I mean if I'm holding this and thinking of how I wish that some person will disappear it might send them to the shadow realm. I got in _so_ much trouble with Yami when it did that to Anzu once. She was babbling on and on about friendship and I just couldn't stand it anymore."

"Now _that_ I can understand. Come on, you said it's late so we better be getting to bed."

"No, Amane!" Ryou screamed staring at the lifeless body of his sister, "Amane!"

A harsh slap caused his eyes to snap open. The realization that it had just been a dream dawned slowly on his mind. He trained his eyes on his feet, careful not to catch the gaze of his yami who was looming over him. A scowl crossed the harsh features and Bakura vanished, though not without the customary flashes of light.

Now that his yami was no longer in the room Ryou relaxed. He looked around, noting that Marik was sitting in the corner his eyes blank while Yami was snoring in his bed. For the past few days Bakura had shared his bed with Ryou for reasons unknown. Not that he was going to complain. He had two good reasons for this. First of all Bakura would punish him if he did and second he didn't actually want to. It was much more comfortable sleeping with Bakura than it was sleeping on the floor in his soul room. Or at least it had become so once Ryou had realized that Bakura wasn't going to do anything to him.

He smiled sleepily. It was strange sometimes living with his yami. He just wished that Bakura was more like Yami. If he was even a little nicer sometimes Ryou could actually be quite happy. He knew that most people would be horrified at the thought of being _happy_ living with an abusive spirit, if they didn't already want to confine him to the insane asylum for thinking spirits existed in the first place, but that was because they didn't understand.

No one could really understand what it felt like to meet your darker half if they hadn't experienced it. The sense of rightness, of completeness, was overwhelming. It was as though he had been only half of a person up till then and only now was he truly complete. Of course, he hadn't exactly been happy when he realized that Bakura had come to make his life even more miserable but hey, that's life. At least he wasn't alone any longer.

His thoughts were interrupted by a burst of light from Marik's direction and a sharp order from his yami. Sing something. And go get the first aid kit; I want to you to patch Malik up.

Ryou shivered, singing the first song that came into his head as he scrambled to obey the rest of his yami's command. Hai yami-sama He replied meekly.

Good. Now stop talking.

Ryou simply nodded and dropped down next to Malik who had appeared on the floor. He looked terrible. He was so covered in blood that Ryou couldn't see the extent of his injuries but from the way he looked he knew it was bad. Malik shoved himself up on one elbow. "Are they gone?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Yes, now shush. Don't talk. You'll just hurt yourself more." Ryou pulled out the gauze and, still singing, began his near impossible task. He did the best he could to fix Malik's injuries and relieve the pain and then helped the other boy to sit up.

"Thank you," Malik rasped.

"Don't thank, me thank my yami. It was his idea. I wouldn't even have noticed you were there if it weren't for him."

"Yeah, but it's not him who's helping me is it? Are you okay? I mean, Marik's been rather angry at you lately and I thought he might have done something. And why are you singing?"

"Bakura told me to. And Marik's probably mad at me 'cause Bakura's been being nice lately." Ryou shrugged and continued his song.

"Do you know why he's being nice or is this just one of his whims?"

"As far as I know he just felt like it. It's been wonderful though." Ryou switched to a different song.

"_You never know  
Some folks think the world just moves too slow  
But was it you?  
Who told me I'm your everything_

You hit me like I never felt before  
Hit me like a sucker punch, you're rotten to the core

_You know you hit me like I never felt before,  
Silly for the last time_

_You never take,  
A promise from a man who sheds his skin.  
You had to wait  
For my aching heart to break_

_You hit me like I never felt before  
Hit me like a sucker punch, you're rotten to the core_

_You know you hit me like I never felt before,  
Silly for the last time_

_Oh, everyone gets angry  
I feel it when you're holdin' me  
But in the right place, at the right time, to the right degree,  
It's a breeding ground_

_For the pain I've found  
From dealing with your scene  
And you know that ain't easy_"

"That's nice," A voice commented from behind them. The boys whirled to see Bakura sitting on the edge of his bed. "It's 'You Never Know' right?" Ryou nodded, eyes dropping to the floor as he sang.

Malik glared at Bakura, "Why won't you just leave him alone?" he demanded.

"Shut up," Marik kicked him from behind and Malik collapsed to the floor, moaning.

"The answer to your question is I don't feel like it. How bad is he Ryou?"

"Bad," Ryou answered, subdued.

"That's not an answer," Marik growled.

"It works," Bakura shrugged, "You might want to leave him alone for a while now. Ryou's work won't do much good if you keep opening his wounds again. Now, I thought we were here to sleep?" Bakura slid under the covers. "Come here Ryou."

Malik watched disbelievingly as Ryou slipped in next to him, silent tears beginning to run down his face.

"Don't cry," Bakura gently wiped the tears away. "You don't have to sing any more if you don't want to." He yawned and wrapped his arms around Ryou. "It's not as though I was going to make you sing all night you know. You do need sleep sometime."

As Bakura lapsed into the even breathing of sleep Malik found himself being thrown back inside his soul room. Marik seemed to have taken Bakura's advice as there was a blanket on the floor and, for the first time since Marik had started beating him, the room was clean with no blood anywhere. He curled up with the blanket wrapped around himself, and went to sleep.


	9. Ch 9 Accidents of magic

Chapter 9

At breakfast Marik and Bakura went off again saying that they wanted to be alone and talk. "Their loss," Yami said, "I can't see why they'd rather be alone than here with us anyway."

"I'm sure they have things to talk about that they'd rather not share with us." Hermione replied. "There are some things people don't like to talk about in company."

Yami nodded absently staring at her with his chin in his hands. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, they should've at least invited me."

"Rather full of yourself aren't you mate," George remarked, sliding in next to him.

"I am not full of myself." Yami retorted sharply. "It's just that the three of us share a past and I thought they would've included me."

"Seems like you were wrong." Ron smirked. Admittedly his smirk was a pale imitation of the ones that the yamis could conjure up but he still tried.

"Yeah I guess so. It doesn't matter though." Yami shrugged casually. "As I said it's their loss. If they don't want to be here they don't have to be. I, on the other hand, am going to enjoy myself." He smiled and dug into his food. "Things here might not be what I'm used to but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate them."

"What _are_ you used to then?" Ron asked snidely.

Yami looked up, surprised. "Actually I'm used to either burned ramen or Bakura's cooking. I'm not trying to dis him but the stuff he cooks is _not_ the kind of stuff I like."

"Really?" Harry was interested. "So what kind of stuff does he cook?"

"Not stuff you'd enjoy." Yami replied. "It's normally either half-raw meat or stuff that's so spicy it scorches the roof off your mouth. They seem to like it though."

"They?" Hermione asked, "Who's they?"

"Huh, oh, Isis, Marik, and Bakura. Shadi likes it too I think. I mean, he's never actually said so but he never said that it was bad either and coming from him that's a compliment."

"Since when is 'no comment' a compliment?" Ron said belligerently.

"Since you factor Shadi into your equation. When you've hung around with my crowd for a while _nothing_ will surprise you. Speaking of groups what's it like growing up in a wizard family?"

Ron, caught off guard by the question, looked flattered. "It's not all that great really. We've got gnomes in the garden and then there's the ghoul in the attic. The ghoul bangs pipes around and kicks up a fuss every time it thinks that things are getting too quiet. Are you really interested in this?" He asked sharply.

"Of course; it sounds fascinating. Please go on."

"Oh, sure." Ron was shocked by the sudden interest in his family. "Anyway dad works for the Ministry of Magic, you do know what that is right?" he added, seeing the blank look on Yami's face.

"Not really, I know it's some kind of wizard government or something but other than that I'm clueless I'm afraid." Yami admitted.

"Well it's not a government or anything like that really. It was set up to monitor wizard's behavior because they were too open about their power. Muggles were noticing them. That's what started all the witch hunts you know? Muggles saw wizards doing stuff and started thinking that it was evil and all that rot. They very rarely actually accused a real witch or wizard though and even when they did the wizard never got hurt. There's a spell that makes you fire resistant. So some of these people were actually getting themselves caught on purpose because they like being in the fire. Apparently it tickles. So the Ministry of Magic was set up to regulate these wizards and restrict the use of magic to that done where the muggles won't notice it.

"Dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts section. He's just about the only one there so he's pretty overworked. Wizards charm their things sometimes and it can create problems if the muggles see or get a hold of them. The most common problem that he finds is shrinking door keys though. That's when a wizard will enchant a key so that it shrinks to nothing whenever the muggle tries to put it in the door. It doesn't get noticed much luckily. Muggles normally just think they've lost it or something.

"I don't envy you growing up as a muggle and everything. I mean you'd have to do the dishes and stuff. Luckily mother does that with magic so we don't have to. We do have to do things like de-gnoming the garden but that's not so bad when you consider what we might have had to do. I'd hate to have to do chores and stuff all the time."

Luckily for the continued sanity of the other wizards (which category does not include Yami) the bell rang signaling that they had to go to classes. "Can we talk more later?" Yami asked Ron.

"Sure," Ron said. "Anytime." His earlier animosity seemed to be forgotten in the thrill of having someone actually interested in his life.

"So," Marik asked Bakura casually, "We pretty much hashed out my life last night so I figure it's your turn. Why are you the way you are?"

Bakura made a face. "To put it as simply as possible Ryou isn't the first holder of the Millenium Ring. He's just the best one so far." Bakura caught a strand of Ryou's hair and twisted it around his finger while his hikari stared longingly at the forgotten breakfast.

"So... what does that mean?" Marik asked. "And why would _Ryou_ be the best?"

"Some of the others were quite nasty," Bakura said reflectively. "To me, I mean. Ryou isn't and never has been." He noticed that Ryou's eyes were fixed on his breakfast tray and just handed the whole thing to his hikari. "Actually the girls were the best."

"Girls," Marik repeated incredulously. "Did you just say that you have had female hikaris?"

Bakura sighed. "Yes, some of my hikaris have been female. I don't mind being a girl really. Although it can present a problem it's not actually too bad. The girls presented less of a problem on the whole. What was really bad was when the ring would get handed to older – and usually evil – men, or babies. And yes, I did say babies. The problem is that the hikari can actually be more powerful if they establish their power from the beginning. And, I really don't want to talk about it."

Marik nodded sympathetically, and moved over to him. "I understand. But if you did have other hikaris you must have had a good time with some of them at least."

"Yeah," Bakura's eyes lit up. "I remember some of those. Like Teddy."

"Wait just a second. Teddy? As in a teddy bear?"

"Teddy as in Theodore, Marik. It was the most annoying nickname I could think of. Anyway this was in England. Surprisingly enough, most of the time I was awake my ring was not in Egypt. I think it had something to do with the pharaoh's binding spell. It wasn't so effective outside of the country where it was cast.

"Teddy was fun. He grew up as a poor boy in a destitute family where none of them had any money and they were under the threat of being evicted from their home. So I came out and stole money to help them. Ended up teaching Teddy and his sister how to be expert thieves. It was fun. I learned a lot there. Never knew there were so many inexpert thieves around or that people could be so easily distracted. Oh damnit, there's the bell. Come on." He and Marik possessed their respective hikaris again and left.

They joined up with the others before going to Transfiguration where they learned vanishing spells. The yamis seemed quite puzzled by these.

"But professor, why would you _want_ to make a cup vanish? Wouldn't it be much more productive to keep it with you so that you could use it later?"

But McGonagall's patience had run out. "The point of this exercise is to learn how to vanish such a simple thing as a cup so that you will be ready later to progress to more complex living things. Now if you would kindly do the spell."

Bakura glared at his cup, which shattered. "_Reparo_," Hermione said calmly. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Bakura was still glaring at the cup. Yami had already successfully vanished his cup whereas Marik had banished his to the shadow realm. "I think the stupid thing's afraid of me."

"Don't be silly, cups can't be scared. I think you're just trying to get out of doing the exercise. Go on now. Do it."

"Fine," Bakura muttered and cast the spell. The cup vanished. So did his desk. And the chair he had been sitting in. And Seamus's chair.

"Who did that?" McGonagall asked.

"Me," Bakura said ruefully, "I didn't mean to though."

McGonagall brought the things back with a flick of her wand. Seamus tried to sit in his chair again but fell right through it.

"Wow," Harry said. "What happened?"

"His spell was too strong." McGonagall said with some asperity. "I was only able to bring the things half back." And then to Bakura, "Bring those things fully back this instant."

"I don't know how." Bakura said. "You haven't shown us yet."

"Like this," McGonagall showed him and he put the place to rights again.

"You should have just banished it like I did." Marik told Bakura afterwards. "It's much easier and you wouldn't have run the risk of having other things disappear as well."

Bakura sighed, "You're right of course. I just wanted to try this their way. At least I'm not _too_ bad at it. I managed to do it right the second time." He looked so down that Marik moved over and slung a casual arm over his shoulder.

"Come on cheer up. Did you see that Longbottom boy? He only managed to vanish the handle of his."

"Thanks Marik," Bakura perked up. "At least I'm not hopeless. I just wish I were as good at these things as you are."

"Come over here." Yami called them. "Ron's telling us about what it's like growing up as a wizard."

"What _are_ we letting ourselves in for?" Marik said to Bakura in an undertone as he noted the conspicuous lack of anyone else in the vicinity. Bakura just shook his head in bewilderment.

"Where was I?" Ron asked.

"You were just saying how you'd hate to have to do chores all the time." Yami replied, eyes twinkling. Marik and Bakura laughed as they walked over. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. (If you don't get this then you're not very bright. The yami's don't work; they make their hikaris do the work for them.)

"Then there's stuff like Quidditch, which muggles don't know anything about. I love Quidditch and my favorite team is the Chudley Cannons. They're the best. There's also stuff like exploding snap where the cards actually explode after a certain amount of time. Damn." They had just got to the Charms classroom.

"We'll talk more later." Yami said soothingly as they went into the room.

Charms was interesting. They were learning how to make their cups grow legs. The only problem with this was that the yamis couldn't really visualize a cup with legs, so Yami ended up with a dragon with a hollowed-out back, Marik had a wolf with a cup perched on its shoulders and Bakura had a cup that was held up by a bunch of people who staggered around with the cup balanced on their backs.

Professor Flitwick was uncertain as to whether or not they had actually done what they should have. Yes, the cups moved around, but they didn't look right. So he showed them how it was normally done and gave them each another cup to practice with. This time they did all right. Their cups ended up looking practically normal.

The only difference was that the designs on their cups changed to whatever they were thinking of. Bakura's was reminiscent of the shadow realm, Marik's was gold-plated with relief designs in the shape of the ring and the rod it, and Yami's was, well, none of their classmates got to see what his one was because he hid it immediately. Marik and Bakura teased him about it, but not seriously, and not actually saying what it was that they were teasing him about. They packed the cups in their bags as quickly as they could and hurried off to Care of Magical Creatures.

This time they were doing unicorns again. The others had done them before but to the yamis they were new. They made sure to stay as far away from the unicorns as possible and Hagrid didn't try to pressure them.

"Why did you want to stay away from the unicorns?" Harry asked afterwards at lunch.

"Why not?" Bakura asked him.

Yami elbowed Bakura and replied, "Because unicorns are supposed to shy away from those who are not pure of heart and we've seen too many things to be pure anymore..."


	10. ch 10 A strange sort of fight

A/N: Okay I'm answering my reviews here in the order they show up on my screen.

Sei Mong: Arigato glomp I can't wait till you write more on your fic. I got this idea from a friend so please tell me if you like it or not. Anyways thank you for the encouragement. I wouldn't be posting this if it weren't for you.

To '...': I just want to say that if you have a problem with what I'm doing in my fic you could have stopped reading after the first chapter where I make it very clear what's going on.

And finally thanks you Manga-nut for the _constructive_ criticism. My answer is that yes I know the yamis wouldn't really beat their hikaris (except for Marik who I think actually would xD.) Yami and Bakura both care about their hosts too much to want to hurt them, or at least that's the impression I got. But since this is a fanfic I'm taking artistic license. To explain my reasoning, however: Bakura got hurt by his other 'hikaris' and so has become a control freak and the way he hurts Ryou – when it isn't inside his soul room - isn't such that he leaves marks. It's stuff like using pressure points etc. Hurts more as well as not being detrimental to the boy's health. Yami, you notice, has an excuse that I say in the fic. He doesn't actually hurt Yugi either, but I'm saying that he sees the hikaris as slaves like the ones that would have served him in Egypt.

And now that I'm done with my rant on to the fic.

Chapter 10

Marik decided to follow Bakura's advice and shoved his boredom, anger, and growing frustration at having his favorite sport, beating Malik, forbidden, into the crystal he had received at Divination. It helped more than he had thought it would. With this new way of venting his anger he found he wasn't hurting Malik as much as he used to, although he made sure not to let the boy forget that he was Marik's plaything and that he had to be obedient or there would be problems.

Their lives began to set into a schedule. At least one meal per day Bakura would grab some food and slip away with Marik. They would sit on top of what they now considered their tower and chat as they ate and fed their hikaris.

The yamis were also getting used to Bakura cuddling up with Ryou at night. Yami had asked him about it and Bakura had just said something about getting nightmares otherwise. Marik teased him about it occasionally but that was just because he didn't understand why he felt relieved by the explanation.

What _was_ strange was that while they seemed to see Malfoy around a lot he never actually said anything to them. Harry and his gang seemed to think that this was some sort of plot but Yami just shrugged and accepted it and the other two just followed his example. Things continued this way until...

"I'm bored," Marik complained. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts again and they never got to do anything but sit there. Isis had sent them all some books written in hieroglyphics to help pass the time but that didn't mean that they _enjoyed_ the class. "I wish something would _happen_."

"Me too," agreed Bakura.

"Me three," said Yami. To their surprise the crystals which they always carried around with them started to glow. The crystals warped and suddenly there were a bunch of robed and hooded figures in the room.

"Damn," muttered Marik, and then to Harry "We'll distract them; you get everyone ready so they can all hex them at once." 'After all,' he thought, 'we don't want them to know how strong we really are.'

"Ghouls! What are _they_ doing here!" Yami exclaimed.

"They're not Ghouls, the costume's wrong." Marik said matter-of-factly.

"Death Eaters!" Screamed one of the girls, pointing to the hooded figures.

"Death eaters?" Said Bakura, acting puzzled. "What are they? And why did they choose such a stupid name for themselves?"

"Whose name are you calling stupid!" The death eaters yelled, turning their collective attention on Bakura.

"Well if you're the one's calling yourselves 'death eaters' I'd have to say you." Bakura said cheekily.

"Hey, I know who these guys are." Marik said in a tone of great enlightenment. "These are the idiots under the service of that dark wizard."

"How dare you call us idiots!" yelled one of the death eaters. "_Avada_ _Kedavra_!"

Bakura quickly stepped in front of Marik and the spell hit him head on. There was a rushing noise and a green light swept over him. When the light cleared they could see that Bakura was slumped in Marik's arms.

"He, they killed him!" screamed one of the girls hysterically.

"Oww," Bakura complained clapping his hands over his ears. "My head hurts."

"What!" exclaimed the death eater that had cast the spell. "I hit you with the killing curse! You should be dead! And all you can say is that your head hurts!"

"It'll be the noise," said Yami. "All this screeching is bound to give anyone a headache. We really should get rid of these death eaters though. They're disrupting the class. Not that I care about the class, I just don't want to be late for Transfiguration."

"Yeah, if we're late for transfiguration we're _dead_." Marik put in.

"_Dead_! We'll be pulverized!" Yami looked almost hysterical.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up already. It's bad enough having girls and idiots screaming without you as well." Bakura glared at Yami, hands still at his head; "Besides we haven't figured out what to do with the 'death eaters' yet."

"Isn't it a stupid name though?" asked Marik, "I mean they're the bad guys right."

"Of course," Yami was starting to get impatient. "Who else would wear black hooded robes?"

"Ghouls for one." Marik retorted smartly.

"Ghouls _are_ bad guys Marik." Yami again.

"Well yeah, but at least they have a cool name. 'Ghouls' is much better than 'death eaters'. Bad guys are supposed to cause death not eat it."

"Could you hurry up and kill them? I'm going to kill _you_ if we're late for transfiguration." Bakura put in irritably.

"Oh yeah, right. Well, it looks like a good time to implement all those spells we've been learning the theories of. So..."

"Count of three." Said Hermione in a businesslike tone. Everyone pulled out their wands, pointing them at the death eaters who were starting to look rather nervous.

"One... two... THREE." And everyone yelled out the first spell that came into their heads. "_Locomoter Mortis_," "_Expelliarmus_," "_Tarentagralla_," "_Incendio_," "_Lumos_," "_Engorgio_," and a bunch of others as well.

Chaos reigned as death eaters hopped around on legs that would no longer obey them or tried to scream through suddenly huge lips. Some of them now had rainbow hair and there were a few that had been turned into canaries. Apparently Fred and George had taught the students well.

"Come on." Said Yami. "We can leave these guys to the teacher and head off to transfiguration. See ya Professor," And with that everyone rushed out the door.

"Wow, how did you _do_ that? That was cool!" Ron asked, eyes shining.

"Do what? All we did was keep them off-balanced. You're the ones who cursed them."

"We did? You mean you didn't help?"

"No of course we didn't help. We wouldn't know how. We'd probably end up making them into something much more deadly than they already were."

"Yes but how did you manage to keep your cool when you were surrounded by death eaters." Ron still wasn't satisfied.

"Easy," said Marik "We have no idea of what they can do really so they don't scare us."  
"I still can't believe those death eaters could be so stupid. Letting themselves be distracted like that."

"Well we _were_ taunting them Bakura," Yami pointed out reasonably.

"That's no excuse for letting us catch them off guard." Marik went into teacher mode. "Fighters should always stay focused no matter what. And that goes double if they're evil. They could have traitors in their own camp who want to gain a higher status by killing them."

"Could you quit it with the lectures already sensei?" Yami demanded, annoyed. "I've had it up to here with you."

"Yes mom," Marik replied mockingly. "Stopping already."

"Marik," Yami said warningly.

"Come on," said Bakura, "Get over it already. We're there." Silence fell as they filed into McGonagall's class. McGonagall however looked flustered.

"Professor Umbridge has resigned." She said in her normal curt tone. "Apparently she was not prepared for the difficulty of the job and feels that she can't cope with the stress." She didn't manage to say anything else as the classroom erupted in cheers.

Wisely Professor McGonagall waited until the class had settled down before continuing. "Can any of you explain why this should be?" She looked around shrewdly. All the students started talking at once, gabbling out an explanation of what happened to her. When they were done she looked around.

"And is this story true?" She asked sternly.

"Yes Professor," Hermione said. As the one who was most trustworthy she got the unenviable job of convincing the teachers. "It's all completely true."

Bakura stood up, gaining her attention. "Yes?" the Professor asked sharply.

"I need to go to the hospital wing." Bakura's voice was faint. "My head feels like it's about to split."

"Very well," McGonagall agreed, "But I still want to know how you were able to shrug off the death eater's attack." Hermione hadn't mentioned that it had been Avada Kedavra, she'd just said that Bakura had gotten hit by the death eater's spell.

"Delayed reaction." Bakura told her quickly before leaving.

"What does he mean by 'delayed reaction'?" McGonagall asked, puzzled.

Yami looked at her, irritated, "I assume he used a spell that stopped _their_ spell from taking hold until now."

"Oh, right. Well then, as I was saying, Professor Umbridge is leaving, however, she would like to talk to the school. Apparently she wishes to deliver a farewell speech. You will all attend. Tomorrow in the great hall after lunch. There will be no Defense Against the Dark Arts until we get a proper teacher for you. You are dismissed. Go to your common rooms now; we have to make sure that none of the death eaters escaped."

Everyone filed out of the room but Marik and Yami, who peeled away from the rest of the group, heading toward the hospital wing. Harry and the others would have joined them but Yami said that there probably wouldn't be any good in them all going and Bakura wouldn't want too many visitors anyway.


	11. ch 11 Hospital wing

Chapter 11

Madame Pomfrey looked up as the door to the hospital wing opened and looked appraisingly at the white-haired teen in the doorway. Bakura's face was strained and he was biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed as he stepped into the room but there were no other signs of anything wrong.

"What seems to be the matter?" she asked, stepping away from the medicine she had been preparing.

"Headache." The other replied succinctly.

Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wand and cast a quick spell, making Bakura first tense up and then relax, seeming to notice for the first time that there was blood on his mouth. He quickly licked his lips, getting rid of any traces of red and thanked the healer before starting out of the room.

"Oh no you don't," Madame Pomfrey stopped him and quickly pulled him over to one of the beds. "You are going to stay there and _rest_. I don't know what you did to yourself but headaches created by a magical overdose are nasty and can get worse quickly. You aren't leaving until I'm sure you're all right."

Bakura, seeing he had no choice, submitted gracefully, allowing himself to be tucked into the bed and fussed over with a minimum of complaining. Madame Pomfrey was actually quite impressed. Normally once her patients couldn't feel the pain anymore they either insisted that they were fine and left, or insisted that they were mortally wounded and expected special privileges.

When Yami and Marik barged in and insisted upon seeing Bakura she was less pleased. "You have five minutes, no more. And I don't want to hear any loud noises or any spells going on. Now go, and hurry."

"Why, Kura, are we not allowed to be noisy?" Marik demanded. "And what are you doing in bed?"

"Apparently I overdid it and used too much magic pulling myself back into control so quickly." Bakura said, looking up unhappily at the two of them. "So she's keeping me here until she's determined that I'm not in any further danger from the backlash. At least the headache's gone now."

"Do you want us to bring you your work?" Yami asked, "Or would you prefer to ignore it?"

"I'm going to be so bored after a day in here that I'd be happy to do some work." Bakura moved restlessly. "So do come in, if, that is, I haven't already gotten frustrated and broken out of here despite the healer's instructions."

"Never disobey a healer Bakura." Yami's voice was sober. "You should know that by now."

"I was just _joking_. Honestly..." Bakura trailed off. "I'm still being an idiot aren't I?"

"Uh, yes?" Marik bit his lip, trying not to look at Bakura, who shrugged and closed his eyes. Madame Pomfrey came bustling in and told them to get out, they'd had their time.

"All right then, I'm gonna go bother my hikari. See ya soon?"

"Ya, later." Marik managed to say over his shoulder as they were hustled out.

"Um, I heard you weren't feeling well..." Malfoy trailed of, staring at Bakura.

"I'm fine really." Bakura sat up. "I'm just supposed to stay in here for a little while longer to make sure. But thanks for coming. I'm surprised she actually let you through. She's already turned a few people away, both today and yesterday."

"You're popular."

Bakura smirked, "No need to sound so surprised."

"Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. You must be really bored up here. There's nothing to do in the hospital wing."

"I'm not as bored as I could be, but yes this is pretty boring. At least I've got something to do." He gestured towards the pile of books beside the bed. "Hermione insisted that I use this time to get ahead on my work and I'm too bored to try and disagree."

"Uh, can you help me with these then?" Malfoy pulled out a pile of duel monsters cards. "My father keeps sending them to me but I don't know what to do with them."

And thus began a highly enjoyable lunch hour. Bakura looked over Malfoy's cards and helped him form a deck. Malfoy learned how to play and handed Bakura all the cards he didn't want. Bakura looked through them, handed some back to him telling him to put them in his deck, he'd need them and explaining why. A couple of them went into Bakura's deck, and the rest he told Malfoy to get rid of somehow, they weren't any good.

When Malfoy had to leave, however, Bakura ended up even more bored than he had been before. /Stay in bed hikari./ He ordered, shoving Ryou back into their body as he retreated to his soul room. /And tell me if anyone comes in./

/Yes, Bakura./ Ryou's reply was soft and Bakura sneered as he looked around his soul room trying to decide what to do.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Marik snarled. He'd come in to see Bakura and wasn't too happy about finding Ryou there instead.

"I got bored and decided my soul room would be more fun." Bakura said calmly, taking over Ryou's body again. "So I let him take control. Problem?"

"Nah," Marik waved it off. "Just that I wanted you not him. Are you allowed out of here yet?"

"After tonight I'm free." Bakura told him. "Just wish it had been earlier. What's been going on while I've been here?"

"Well, Yami's been staring at Hermione, Ron's been glaring at Yami and Harry's remained completely oblivious to it all. So nothing interesting really. You?"

"Malfoy came in and wanted Duel Monsters explained to him. So I've added a few cards to my deck." Bakura smirked. "I spent the rest of the time in my soul room." He raised one hand to finger the tiny onyx studs he wore. "These are starting to get boring."

"Watcha gonna replace em with?" Marik teased, putting on a fake accent.

"You've been spending too much time around the mutt." Bakura replied in a fake serious tone. "And I was thinking of something along the lines of a starburst. I made these while coming up with the design."

He held out a simple pair of drop earrings. The stones were white pearly things covered in a thin layer of amethyst. But the amazing thing was that you could see through the purple gemstones to the pearls underneath. They had been cut so finely that the clarity and quality of the perfectly matched pearls underneath could be clearly seen.

"I made a pair each. Black for me, ruby for Yami, and these for you. Question is what to make next."

"Didn't you say you were thinking of making some star thing?"

"Done that already." Bakura waved a hand absently. "I'll show you once they're finished. I've still got to coat them so they end up looking right."

"You're the one that knows about these things." Marik shrugged. "I just do wood carving. Come up with anything for me to make by the way?"

"Yes actually." Bakura pulled out a simple spiral design worked in bronze. "I've been thinking how this would look in 3D with hieroglyphics carved around the edges. Your choice as to the message."

"Yeah," Marik nodded. "It would look cool. I'll make a bunch and you can make something out of them afterwards."

"Okay," Bakura nodded. "Sounds good to me. Do you realize it's only a couple of weeks before All Hallows? It might be fun to scare everyone then."

"Yeah," Marik's eyes lit up. "That sounds great! We can use your monsters and call up the spirits around this place that didn't choose to become ghosts. And if Yami agrees we can call up some of the nasties around here for a showdown."

"Mmm," Bakura agreed, smirking. "This is going to be fun."


	12. ch 12 All Hallows Eve

Chapter 12

Bakura chanted, hands held over a brazier filled with burning coals. To one side he could feel Marik's dark aura, to the other the reassuring presence of the pharaoh. Eyes closed he began to weave the spell that would both awaken and bind the spirits. The power bleeding into the spell would give the spirits of this place semblance but no real power. Their only true power would be in the fear that they inspired and the carelessness that that created.

Around the castle things woke. Many of the objects taken for granted every day gained a purpose and began to move so as to form traps that would seize the unwary. A suit of armor gained a pair of glowing red eyes and began to move towards the nearest life force. Ghostly forms detached themselves from the books in the restricted section of the library. Paintings that had been blank suddenly took on a life of their own as shadowy shapes appeared in them, carrying out bloody rituals.

Shadows swirled where no shadows should be, and _things_ gibbered in the corners or from behind closed doors. Fog rose up to blanket the buildings. The sky darkened, thunderclouds gathering to obscure the horizon. By dawn there would be no place that was free of the slowly growing terror, and the remembrance of what Halloween used to be before the holiday had been tamed.

And in the Great Hall the brazier sunk beneath the ground and three boys smirked at each other in triumph before sneaking back into their beds, their dreams undisturbed by the nightmares plaguing the other denizens of the castle.

"It feels sort of... spooky." Harry ventured to say at breakfast that morning. His day had began with icy shivers going up his spine and thin tendrils of mist winding in through a crack in the windowpane.

His dreams had been of the graveyard again, only this time he was somewhere else. He had looked around, trying to see what was happening, why he was there, and his attention had been caught by a glow of greenish light to one side. He had followed the light until he came out in the center of the clearing where he had fought Voldemort. Things had been cleaned up, the graves had been fixed as best as they could be, and there were only a few traces left of the struggle.

What had terrified him though had been the ghosts rising up from the graves all around him and the transparent figures standing in place ready for the ritual. They glowed with the same sickly green light that had brought him here. And then Cedric appeared in front of him. He had begged for help but Harry had been unable even to see any danger. His parents had come and thanked him for freeing them... before being pulled into the mist that had been rising stealthily all around him.

The vapor had begun to envelop him also, and he had felt a pull as though it was trying to take him somewhere. He had struggled, terrified, and had woken up to the mist swirling about his room with the realization of failure.

"It _is_ All Hallows." Yami said casually, bringing him out of his thoughts. "This is the day when spirits walk. They try to take those who they care for, or those who have hurt them and pull them into the world of the dead with them."

"Take care that you don't follow them." Bakura put in, eyes serious for once. "For once gone, you can't come back without blood."

"And their world is no place for a mortal." Marik agreed. "Visiting it, even in dreams, can be dangerous."

Harry stared at them, terrified by the suggestion and then back at his food. He was _not_ looking forward to his dreams tonight.

The rest of the students filtered into the Great Hall. It was early, but apparently all had been woken, as Harry had, by nightmares. Some of them sported bruises, showing that they had not been as lucky as Harry had and had fallen foul of some of the nastier traps hidden around the castle. The yamis had done their work well.

Even the teachers had been affected by the magic-inspired terror. Professor Sprout had closed the greenhouses because the plants had savagely tried to attack her. Evidence of this was in the long gashes along her hand and arm, as though thorns had caught and torn the flesh.

Snape refused to allow his students to make any potions because whenever anyone tried the potion went horribly wrong. Several scorch marks showed where the least of these problems had been and students in the hospital testified to the rest. McGonagall stuck to theory because she didn't want the students to get scared and do the spells wrong, or hit the wrong thing, Trelawney predicted nothing and stayed huddled into her robes, eyes huge, and even Binns gave them a free period.

The Augureys that Hagrid had brought to show the class were ominously silent and subdued, succumbing to the feeling that pervaded the school. By this time nearly all of the students sported cuts and bruises from the newly formed traps, or just from walking into things while watching ghosts glare at them.

One particularly unlucky girl had fallen backwards down a flight of steps while staring in horrified fascination at one of the new paintings. She was in the hospital wing with a cracked skull. Ron's hand was black and blue where a bookcase had fallen on it and Hermione's face was covered in scratches from Crookshanks' claws. Harry had gotten off lightly with only a few scratches from a normally ordinary tree he'd collided with early in the day.

Practically the only ones left untouched were the yamis. Crabbe and Goyle were also unharmed, which shocked the school seeing as Malfoy was covered in bruises. Apparently they weren't smart enough to be scared.

The three yamis were rather happy with their work. Their spell would end at dawn the next day but the effects of their spell were rather amusing, especially as they weren't affected. The day was meant to be a day of terror, of darkness, and of blood, but they were used to blood and darkness was their element.

But the real show was yet to come...

That night, as the students gathered in the great hall a thunderstorm started up out of nowhere. Rain poured down, right through the ceiling getting everyone thoroughly soaked, then, just as quickly as it had begun the rain stopped and the sky became a matte black with no hint of stars to lighten the darkness.

As the students gaped around themselves trying to figure out what was going on a greenish mist began to rise around them. Tendrils of mist wrapped students up, while disembodied voices whispered to them. Somewhere in the distance the Augureys began a long mournful wail.

Wolves added their voices to the Augureys' cry and the tension grew higher. Suddenly the noise stopped. The students relaxed, and then screamed as ghosts poured out of the walls. These weren't the ordinary ghosts. These ghosts were evil looking. Even the Baron would be scared of these.

They poured out of the walls, rose from the floor and drifted down from the ceiling, their expressions promising a fate worse than death for any who got in their way. The green mist trailed along in their wake awakening dreams, no, nightmares, of being trapped in a room that kept growing smaller and smaller. And you knew that when the walls got small enough you'd wake up. Except that you didn't.

And then the lights went out. All the candles that had been hovering above the tables vanished, leaving the sickly glow from the ghosts the only illumination. The students' will finally broke and they panicked, fleeing from the hall into the corridors where shadows swirled around them, trying to pull them in, and from there to their common rooms in a blind panic. The stampede of bodies resulted in some injuries but no one – including those injured – seemed to even notice. They were too busy trying to get away from the horrors all around them.

When finally they reached their common rooms they found that the fires had died down to a bed of coals that was still somehow comforting. They stared into the fire for a while but quickly began to grow sleepy and stumbled off to their rooms to be plagued with nightmares from their worst imaginings. The night was ending and so was exerting all its power to make certain that it would be remembered.


	13. ch 13 Bouncer

Bouncer

Inside his soul room Ryou sighed and shifted again. It was hard to get comfortable on the hard floor and the lack of any interesting occupation didn't help. Bakura was attending History of Magic classes and they were boring the white-haired look-alikes to death.

He could tell that his problems were shared because his soul room walls were constantly shifting color, something Bakura resorted to only when his boredom had reached massive proportions. Of course, normally when Bakura got this bored he would just go destroy something with Marik, tease Yami, or go terrorize innocent people. If all else failed Ryou was always available as a boredom buster. Ryou shuddered at the thought. Bakura hadn't done anything physical or actually _hurt_ him, just... ugh, the mental chaos he'd been thrown into had been awful.

He quickly diverted his mind to other things. Like Yami, who hadn't even seemed to notice how horridly boring this whole thing was. The pharaoh was staring at Hermione, a dreamy look on his face, completely oblivious to the way Ron was glaring at him. Bakura picked up on his train of thought and smirked. /Pharaoh's got it _bad_./

/Yeah/ Ryou agreed tentatively. He didn't think Bakura would mind him talking, he was in a relatively good mood now that his attention had been diverted anyway.

/Think we should help him/ Oh good, Bakura was just bouncing ideas off him. That was always nice when it happened.

/I think so/ Ryou replied uncertainly/He is your friend after all./

/I _know_ that hikari./ Bakura's tone turned suddenly frigid. /Just because I don't like _your_ friends doesn't mean I don't know what friendship's about./

/S-Sorry./ Ryou stammered, taken off guard by the sudden turn of events.

/Oh whatever/ Bakura dismissed him. /Class is almost over now anyway/ he added in a slightly conciliatory tone /So there'll be something else for you to do then put up with me./

/Yes Bakura./ Ryou said quickly. He didn't want to create problems now. Not when Bakura was being so nice.

/Good hikari-chan./ Bakura smirked at the startled look on Ryou's face as he quickly scribbled down his notes. The boy was so fun to tease. He always reacted and then got all flustered about reacting. And he had some good ideas sometimes too. Like this latest thing with Yami. He'd have to talk with Marik about it. Yami was no fun when he was moping.

Yami sat on his bed, brooding. Things were never like this in Egypt... he drifted into a trancelike state, remembering...

_"Pharaoh, Pharaoh." A voice called. Yami ignored it, tired of listening to his advisors. He knew that they were only trying to help him learn how to run his country better; but still, they bored him. He was the Pharaoh Atemu Sa-Ra and as such his word was law. He didn't need their advice. He would do what he saw fit._

_"Atemu hm." They called again. This time he sighed and slipped out of his hiding place, keeping in the shadows as he made his way towards the throne room. His people were waiting for him._

Yami sighed again, this time in the real world. Must everything remind him of his duties? He just wanted to relax, maybe talk to Hermione. She was the only one of these wizards that wasn't completely clueless. None of the others had the intelligence to be worth his time. Like Yugi's friends.

At the thought of them his head sagged. After the 'incident' at Battle City and his brief state of madness none of them had wanted to be around him anymore. And that had meant that they avoided his hikari too. Yugi understood them. He always did. Yami on the other hand didn't even want to understand them. He just wanted them to get out of his life if they wouldn't be a part of it. They could be his friends, or nothing. He wasn't going to accept rejection from them. Instead he left.

"Hey Yami," The voice was soft, surprisingly gentle, or surprising to anyone who didn't know the former thief as he did. "What's up?"

"Just... thinking." Yami's reply was hesitant. He still felt that it was wrong to open up to anyone.

"Come off it Pharaoh." Marik this time, sitting next to him. "You've been like this for a week now. We know something's the matter and we won't leave you alone until you tell us what it is."

"It's nothing." Yami insisted. "And since when do you two gang up on me?"

"We gang up on you only when you insist on lying to us." Bakura said, as the white-haired teen flung himself onto his bed and lay there, staring up at Yami. "So spill."

Yami sighed. He knew that he couldn't win here. The two of them wouldn't let up until he managed to satisfy them. "All right." He said finally. "But don't you dare interrupt me." The two fiends laughed and nodded, agreeing with Yami's terms.

"It's nothing big really. It's just that ever since... then; I've been afraid that people won't like me. Normal people I mean; not you. You two don't count. You're even less sane than I am."

"Finished?" Marik asked him.

"Yeah I guess," Yami admitted. "Looks like it didn't take that long after all. It just feels like it should take ages to tell about."

"I know," Marik agreed. "I've... oh what the hell, let Kura answer you. Ra knows I've got my own problems to worry about without trying to analyze yours."

"Idiot," Bakura agreed, a hint of tenderness creeping into his voice. "Anyways, the answer to your problem, Pharaoh, is obvious. Go ask her."

"What. Why. Who. HOW?" Yami stammered. "I'm not that obvious am I?"

"Yes." Marik replied firmly. "You are. Haven't you noticed the looks the redhead's been giving you when he thinks no one's looking? He's jealous because Hermione spends more time with you than she does with him. That alone ought to tell you what her answer will be."

"But don't ask her out on anything really... official yet." Bakura agreed, smirking at him. "Start with something ordinary, or rather, something that would be ordinary if not for it being just the two of you."

"Yeah," Marik agreed; standing and moving over to sit on Bakura's back. "Make _her_ want _you_ before you actually let her know you like her."

"Get off me," Bakura snarled at him, twisting so that the taller yami fell to the floor. "I'm not a chair." He reached down, catching Marik's hand in his and pulling him to his feet. "Okay?"

"Okay." Marik agreed, smirking, "But that doesn't mean I can't do other things..." He ran his fingers along Bakura's sides and in moments the two were engaged in a ferocious tickling contest.

"You have a point." Yami said softly, staring down at the two fighting spirits. "I'll do it." And he walked out of the room, a new purpose in his step.

Behind him two pairs of eyes watched him go, two identical smirks gracing the Egyptian's faces.


	14. ch 14 Fight over the girl

Chapter 14

Yami smiled at the girl next to him. He'd taken the others' advice and started asking Hermione to do things with him. His latest idea had been to ask if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him. The two of them were currently seated at one of the tables at the Three Broomsticks just talking about anything that happened to come to mind.

Hermione had impressed him with her wide knowledge of things magical. Apparently she'd studied more than just the required textbooks. Her knowledge of Hogwarts history had proved useful on several occasions, most especially getting his Duel Disk and Bakura's CD player to work.

More importantly to him though, she hadn't resisted any of his tentative advances so he felt secure in reaching out and wrapping a casual arm across her shoulders. She smiled and snuggled into him happily, shivering slightly as he got to an especially interesting part in the story he was telling her. Actually he was merely relating what had happened to him 5000 years ago but he was making sure to tell it in such a way that it seemed like a story and to alter it so that the story had a happy ending where he didn't get sealed inside the millennium puzzle for 5000 years.

"But as the tomb robber readied the final attack that would crush the pharaoh and gain him the ultimate power one of the priests bravely gave his power to the pharaoh, who was able to use that power to summon the sun god Ra. Ra's bright rays broke through the curtain of darkness surrounding the evil thief and exposed his monstrous servant. With a single blow the pharaoh destroyed him, thus ensuring the continued peace of his kingdom and giving them all time to recover from this grievous battle. And they lived in peace for a hundred years time, until the time when the pharaoh's son had become ruler and stirred up trouble with the gods. But that's another story for another time."

"Wow," Hermione breathed as Yami finished his story, only then noticing that he had gained a crowd of eager listeners. "That was amazing."

Yami flushed and smiled at her again. "It's no big deal," he said modestly. "The others could do much better. And it's an old story, one of thousands of legends that Isis made us memorize."

"_You_ are amazing." she repeated. "And I believe that everyone here agrees with me." There were nods around the room as people drifted off back to their seats now that the story was over. "You just don't appreciate yourself enough." Suddenly, with no warning at all, Hermione threw her arms around him and kissed him quickly.

Yami was too stunned to do anything, and just stared at her dazedly for a moment before grabbing her and kissing her back fervently. With a small part of his mind he wondered what her friends would think of this but the majority of his mind was concentrated on her and her reaction.

Hermione seemed thrilled by his eager response and the two of them spent the rest of the evening wandering around Hogsmeade, his arm around her waist and her head on his shoulders. They didn't notice the triumphant Bakura give Marik a high five or Ron's stunned reaction. They didn't even notice the comments on what a cute couple they made together. They were far too engrossed in each other to notice anything else.

"How _dare_ you." Ron hissed at Yami that night in their common rooms.

"How dare I what?" Yami replied, amusing filling his voice. "I don't believe that I've done anything to you. What are you going on about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about." Ron yelled. The entire common room looked over at him and he lowered his voice, still glowering at Yami, "Hermione is _my_ girl. You have no right to her. I demand that you step back and leave her alone."

Yami blinked at him and then smirked. "Tell you what, we'll play for it. Name a game, any game. If I lose you get a week during which I'll stand back and let you try to make her like you. If you lose then you'll stay out of this and leave her with me. Okay?" He looked over at Hermione for approval. She nodded at him, pride showing in her face at his, relatively, mature handling of the situation.

Ron looked at him speculatively and then shook his head. "This is too important to be settled by a single game. We'll play three games and the best two out of three wins. That suit you?"

"One more thing." Yami asserted, "We'll play three games, one chosen by you, one by me, and one by someone else, you chose who, who will determine who is the winner and who the loser in each game and will decide any other rules that become necessary."

"No," Marik put in, "Not just one other person. We want this to be fair. How about Harry and Bakura arbitrate together? That way they'll balance each other out."

"I can agree to that." Ron replied, "It's up to them though."

"Fine," Harry agreed. "I don't really care who wins though. The way you've made the rules Hermione's choice will still win out over all no matter which one of you wins this so it doesn't really matter."

"Well duh, that was sort of the whole point." Bakura looked at him as though he was crazy. "Why else put in all the rules to make it fair and everything? If you fight over a lady's hand then it's always the lady who has the final decision. It wouldn't make sense otherwise."

"All right." Said Ron decisively. "I pick Quidditch."

"I pick Duel Monsters." Yami retorted.

Harry and Bakura went into a huddle and came out both smirking. "We," Harry said, "have decided that these games will be played out over three days, one game a day. First will come Ron's game, Quidditch, then Yami's game, Duel monsters, and finally the game that we've picked. The contests will start tomorrow."

"Wait a second." Ron protested. "You haven't told us what game you choose."

"Exactly," Bakura agreed. "In these next two games each of you has an advantage over the other because of your familiarity with the game. You've been given time to study strategy and practice the game of the other's choosing to even out this gap. However it still isn't completely fair so the final game has been chosen by us and will not be told to you until the time comes for you to play it. Understand?"

"Yeah, sounds fair." Ron said reluctantly. "And mark my words Yami, I _will_ beat you." Marik rolled his eyes but didn't comment as the two adversaries headed off, Ron to the library to study, and Yami to the Quidditch grounds.

"They're crazy," Harry muttered.

"I think it's sweet," Hermione had abandoned propriety for once to agree with this decidedly unconventional approach to wooing. Apparently she liked being fought over.

"Sweet?" Marik repeated, in disbelief. "Them? Are you crazy?"

"No we are, remember?" Bakura replied sarcastically. "Of course she's crazy. She's fallen in love with Yami. If that's not proof of insanity then I don't know what is."

"True," Marik agreed, smirking.

"And what would you say if it was you someone had fallen for?" Hermione stood up, knocking her chair over, to confront Bakura. "Would you say that they were crazy too? I doubt it. You're just jealous that he has someone and you don't."

"Jealous," Bakura repeated blankly. "Of... Yami? I think not. I've had plenty of girls following me around and all they do is get in the way. Besides I'd rather kiss _Dumbledore_ than you."

Stunned silence. Stare. Stare. Finally someone said, "Why Dumbledore?"

"Huh?" Bakura asked, slightly confused, "Oh, I picked Dumbledore because he's the least appealing person I can think of in terms of having a relationship."

"Well why not pick Marik then?" Hermione asked him belligerently. "He should be in the same grouping."

Marik's eyes widened, a slight mist covering them at her harsh words. "You think?" Bakura asked her mockingly, "Didn't it occur to you that if he had been in that category he would have been a much better example than Dumbledore?"

"Uhh," She stared at him as he stepped closer to his friend, glaring at her.

"You are so _stupid_." He hissed finally, when it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anything else. He gave her a final searing glance before turning and stalking out the door.

Marik stared after him, cheeks red, a silly smile flickering over his face, before quickly squashing the emotion and smirking. "Obviously. I look _much_ better than that old fart. Are you blind or something?" And he stalked out after the spirit.


	15. ch 15 And the best man wins

Chapter 15

"Damn her," Bakura snarled, hands clenched into fists. He was sitting on the parapet of the tower, Ryou kneeling beside him, watching the clouds scudding along overhead. "Why couldn't she just leave Marik out of it?" He slammed a fist into the floor before turning his fiery gaze in his hikari's direction.

Ryou quailed inwardly at his yami's wrathful gaze but didn't dare to move a muscle in fear of attracting Bakura's attention. A leaf spiraled downwards and Bakura reached out, snatching it out of the air and crushing to powder between his fingers. He opened his hand, letting the dust drift down, falling towards the ground far below the tower. He watched it fall, a pensive expression gracing his features as the remains of the leaf spiraled down towards the bare earth.

"Of Ra's tears we were created and to his earth we shall return." He mused out loud and Ryou relaxed at the thoughtful tone. "And yet he would not have us destroyed, for did he not restrain Hathor in her aspect as Sekhmet when she would have destroyed all those souls upon the earth? And did he not appoint those to rule over us that we would live in peace and happiness despite knowing our wicked nature?" He turned abruptly to Ryou. "What do you think happens to us when we die?"

Ryou stared at him in disbelief but answered as quickly as he could. "I don't know. I never really thought about it."

Bakura smirked at his answer and stood up, stretching quickly before sprawling out on the edge of the tower and directing Ryou's gaze to where Yami was trying to master the art of flying on a broomstick. His antics had the two of them so convulsed with laughter that they didn't even respond when Marik came up to join them. He was rather annoyed by this until he saw why, whereupon he joined them in laughing at the former pharaoh.

Laughter and gaiety was the order of the day, seeing as their classes were over. They would have been in DADA except that professor Umbrage had left, and thus there was a vacancy. Apparently someone called Lupin had taught them once before and he was going to come and teach them again. The students all rejoiced over that one. Apparently he was a good teacher.

But back to the subject. Even Malik joined in the laughter without bringing repercussions on his head. Yami just looked so funny. Marik took a bunch of pictures to use as blackmail on the normally staid and sober pharaoh. He was going to send a bunch of them to Isis, especially if he could somehow get them to move like the wizards did.

"Ready, one, two, three, GO!" Harry yelled and the two brooms took off. As this was a one on one instead of an official match with seven players they'd had to change the rules a bit. The two Bludgers had been released, the Snitch had been released, and that was it. First one to catch the Snitch won. Any cheating got you instantly disqualified and the match would have to be restarted with the cheater at a disadvantage.

Ron dodged the Bludgers easily, heading towards the tiny flash of gold he'd spotted as Yami? did the same thing. They both grabbed for it, both missed, and ended up at opposite sides of the field from each other glaring. Harry smirked. "They won't be able to catch the Snitch if they're not paying attention to it. They have to forget their rivalry, at least temporarily, and focus on the game."

"That shouldn't be too hard for Yami." Marik remarked absently. "He's played plenty of games with high stakes."

They watched as Yami shot one last fiery glare at Ron before determinedly tearing his eyes away and staring around the field. His – purple? eyes darted here and there, constantly on the lookout as he flew, trying to avoid the Bludgers.

"Bakura?" Marik asked finally in an undertone, "Why is Yugi playing?"

"Yami couldn't cope with the broomstick." Bakura replied just as softly. "So he let Yugi take over. Yugi used to play games sort of like this at those carnivals he likes so much."

"Okay." Marik replied. "I was just wondering."

"I know," Bakura replied cheerfully, eyes on the game. "It's no big deal."

"Bakura?" Marik looked at him skeptically, "Are you okay? You seem sort of – strange." 'You never act this happy.' He added mentally.

"I'm fine, really. I just had an idea on something is all." Bakura's eyes sparkled with mischief as he stared up at Yugi. "What would you say to sneaking back to Hogsmeade and buying a whole bunch of those sweets?"

"I'd say it sounds wonderful," Marik replied, startled, "But how do you propose to do it? There isn't any way to get out of here without attracting attention. Is there?" he finished uncertainly.

"There are several ways." Bakura's reply was mysterious. "And although Harry knows most of them, he doesn't know them all by any means."

"How did you find out about these?" Marik asked curiously.

"I've been exploring the castle with shadow magic in my spare time and I went through his stuff yesterday. He's got this map of Hogwarts. It's not perfect but it's pretty good. And it shows where people are in the castle too, which can be useful."

"Cool," Marik agreed, nodding. "Let's go tonight then. After Yami's asleep of course. We wouldn't want him to be distracted from his upcoming duel after all." His smirk gleamed as the clouds passed over the sun.

"Oh, look, look!" Hermione exclaimed and Marik looked up just in time to see Yugi reach out and grasp the snitch, taking it almost right out of Ron's hand.

"Yami wins." Harry yelled; sounding completely shocked at this development. This was Ron's game after all, the game in which Ron had the advantage over Yami and still Yami managed to beat him.

Yugi gave Bakura a tired thumbs up as he switched back into Yami. Hermione ran across the field to congratulate him, throwing herself into his arms and smiling up at him in obvious adoration.

"Ugh," was Marik's comment. "I can't see how he stands it. That girl is so infatuated it's not even funny."

"I don't think it's meant to be funny Marik." Bakura stared at them, mouth twisted in disgust. "But it _is_ sickening. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah," Marik agreed and ran off, Bakura following, laughing at his eagerness to get away.

"Are you sure this is the quickest route to Hogsmeade?" Marik asked. "This is going to take weeks at this rate."

"This is the quickest way that no one else knows about yes." Bakura replied, irritated. "But we're almost there now. Aha!" He pushed open the trapdoor and the two slipped through into the dark forest. "Now right over there should be the shrieking shack." Bakura walked over purposefully and Marik followed shaking his head at the other's attitude.

"Honestly Bakura, don't you think you should try to be at least a little less... Yami-like.

"_What_!" Bakura nearly shrieked the word. "What do you mean Yami-like! I am nothing _like_ the pharaoh!"

"You're acting like him." Marik retorted, smirking at the response he was getting. "All 'I can do anything' and confident ass-of-a-pharaoh. Quit it already!"

"All right, all right." Bakura held up his hands in defense. "Just stop comparing me to pharaoh-baka. Okay?"

"All right." Marik replied cheerfully. He'd just realized that if anyone else had said that Bakura would have banished them to the shadow realm by now. The thief must like him.

"And what the hell are you smirking about?" Bakura demanded angrily. "I'm not that funny." He glared over at his friend. "Quit bugging me, anyways we're there already."

"Aww," Marik complained. "And I was having so much fun teasing you."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Well find something else to do then. Get yourself something to eat. This place has some _cool_ treats."

"What?" Marik asked sarcastically, "Like blood pops?"

"No way! Those things sound awful. Blood tastes okay when it's fresh but other than that it's not a good taste. _I_ like those Fizzing Whisbees. And don't tell they're made out of Billywig stings, I already know that."

"I wasn't going to," Marik protested, all injured innocence, "I was just going to say that I like the chocolate frogs better."

"Why? Because you can smash them to bits and they actually react? Or because they're so much fun to catch when you open twenty of them at once?"

"Both," Marik replied firmly. "They're both good reasons to like them, right?"

When the two of them eventually left the shop they had hundreds of sweets concealed in various places and were still arguing about what type was best. As soon as they were out of sight they took all the candy to their soul rooms and then, at Bakura's amused suggestion had their hikaris walk back to the castle instead of them, thus saving Marik the tedium of another trip.

Ryou and Malik seemed really happy to be allowed to talk to each other too. They were, or had been, really good friends but they hadn't been allowed to talk to each other in so long that they'd almost forgotten what the other was like. This was a real treat for them.

"Should we have done that?" Marik asked Bakura, repossessing Malik as they reached the castle again. "Now they're going to think that they can do this all the time."

Bakura snorted. "I doubt it. But if you're really that concerned about it then just teach him that he can't. I don't think you should have too much trouble with that."

"Really?" Marik's face lit up. He hadn't touched Malik since Bakura had told him to leave the boy alone a while ago. He hadn't wanted Bakura to be angry at him.

"I did say so didn't I?" Bakura replied, smirking. "Besides, I think he should be fine now. You've given him enough time to heal from what you did to him last time don't you think?"

"Yes," Marik agreed smirking. "He's had more than enough time."

"Don't overdo it though." Bakura added warningly. "Just 'cause he should be healed now doesn't mean that you can undo the good you've done and beat him to death now."

"I know," Marik agreed. "But I still think you're too lenient."

"Oh really?" Bakura replied archly, "Then why is it that my hikari is by far the more obedient of the two? Or don't you know?" And with that parting shot he fell into bed, separated from Ryou, and fell asleep.


	16. ch 16 A promise kept

Chapter 16

"So," Bakura began the next morning as the four sat around 'their' tower. "He doesn't look too badly roughed up."

"No," Marik agreed, "I tried to take your advice and go relatively easy on him. But I don't like it. And I'm not going to keep doing it unless you come up with a really good reason." He glared at Bakura, daring him to come up with one.

"Don't have one." Bakura shrugged, "It's your choice really. He's your hikari not mine." He ran a hand over Ryou's hair as he spoke. "I don't really have any right to interfere in your treatment of him. And it goes both ways. I don't tell you and Yami what to do; you don't tell me what I should do. Simple."

"Well you don't seem to follow that very well." Marik smirked at him. "Look at what you've been doing."

"I know," Bakura replied serenely, "I should have just let you kill him right?"

"Well, yeah. Exactly. But I can't really say that I'm sorry you didn't." Marik shrugged in an unconscious repetition of Bakura's earlier gesture. "So... I guess it doesn't really matter does it?"

"Not really," Bakura told him. "It's just a case of following the spirit or the letter of the law. Sometimes you can't do both."

"And since when have you done either?" Marik asked laughingly. "After all, the profession of thief isn't exactly one bound by the law is it?"

"No," Bakura's eyes glowed with suppressed merriment. "Does it matter?"

Marik couldn't contain his laughter at that. Even the hikaris joined in. The joking way the two Egyptians sparred seemed to inspire a lot of laughter and a loosening of their normally strict behavioral rules.

Ryou wasn't the only one glad of the change. Malik felt it even more than the other hikari. If Ryou was used to strict rules; Malik was used to senseless violence. The worst of it had stopped after Bakura's put down and lecture about how killing your hikari was not really a good idea but it looked as though it was going to start again. Bakura didn't seem to realize the extent of his influence on Marik but Malik both knew and appreciated it.

If it weren't for Bakura he probably _would_ be dead, as Marik never stopped hurting him for anything – except the other yami. He didn't really understand why Bakura cared about whether he lived or died or how hurt he was but it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he did and his intervention had saved Malik numerous times. A casual word from Bakura and Malik would be left alone for days at a time.

And Bakura didn't even notice. That in itself was amazing. It was only too obvious to Malik, especially on the rare occasions that Bakura would get angry at him. Then not only did Marik turn him over to Bakura for punishment he got it from his own yami afterwards. Sometimes he was glad Bakura didn't know what he could do. If he did he'd probably use that power, and not for Malik's benefit.

Life was good though. Marik hadn't been beating him for a while so even if he did start again it wouldn't hurt as much, as Malik wouldn't have to deal with more than one set of wounds at a time. He had been getting fed, and it seemed as though that would continue as his getting fed appeared to be part of the deal with Marik and Bakura sitting together. And finally, he had actually been allowed to talk with Ryou.

As he'd said life was good. He'd seen that Yami and Hermione were together too. That was good for them. Now all he needed was for Yugi to get together with Anzu and Bakura to realize that Marik liked him. If that happened then he'd probably get left alone most of the time. Marik would be too busy with Bakura to bother with him.

That was his definition of paradise. A pretty poor picture of paradise some would call it, but he knew better. Isis was safe and Rishid... Rishid was dead and beyond any questions of safety. That meant that he was the only one he had to worry about and a life without pain, or with a minimum of pain seemed like heaven to him. That was why he was so grateful to Bakura. Because of him Malik had been living his dream and it had been even better than he had thought.

Ryou didn't pay attention to the duel between Yami and Ron. He already knew who was going to win anyway and the position Bakura had him in was not one that encouraged paying attention to anything other than keeping his pose. It was a copy off of one of the many Greek statues they had been looking at in History of Magic.

The statue had been of a couple in the middle of... well... coupling. Bakura had looked at it and immediately thought about what it would look like if the girl had been taken away. So now Ryou was desperately trying to hold himself up so his body would have been at a 30 degree angle from the floor if it weren't for the fact that he was arched backwards as well. His hands were in the air, as if caressing someone, which was exactly what the statue had been doing, and his mouth was only slightly open. He was sweating and panting heavily trying to get enough air.

Bakura could be very sadistic sometimes. Ryou had really been looking forward to watching the duel as he hadn't seen anyone playing Duel Monsters since the disastrous incident in Battle City and now look at him. Obviously he shouldn't have thought that he would be allowed to do anything he really wanted to. He should have known that Bakura would ruin it.

Still, he had to look on the bright side or he'd always be wallowing in misery. Bakura had said that if he managed to pull this off and didn't disturb him during the duel then he would be allowed a treat. Ryou wasn't sure exactly what his yami had meant by that but anything that Bakura considered a treat had to be good right?

Ryou quickly damped his thoughts down again, not wanting to annoy Bakura by broadcasting them to him. Not now, when he had the opportunity to have something good happen. Not now that Bakura was being nice to him.

He _had_ to do this right. So all he could think about was keeping his thoughts down and staying where he was. If he got this right then everything would be okay. He just had to do this one thing... he hoped.

The door opened and Ryou nearly fell down. Had he done something wrong? Was that why Bakura had come in? Please let it not be that. He had to have gotten it right. He'd been trying so hard. His eyes misted.

"Down hikari," Bakura's voice was, as always, cold, but he spoke as he would to the cat he'd rescued from drowning. That cat was the only living thing he'd ever shown kindness to. Ryou relaxed as he dropped to his knees on the floor of his soul room. If Bakura was talking to him like that then he must have been okay. He'd done it right this time.

"Have fun," Bakura said casually, tossing a handful of sweets at Ryou before following the other two down the stairs. They were leaving the hikaris at the top of the tower for the day so that they could talk with each other. This, it turned out, was what Bakura had meant by giving Ryou a treat. He'd somehow managed to convince the others to play along and leave the three up there together. It was going to be wonderful!

"Are you okay Malik?" Ryou asked worriedly, "I know Marik's been hurting you again..."

"I'm fine," Malik replied stoically. "It's you _I'm_ worried about. How's Bakura been treating you? He seems less... angry lately but, are you okay?"

"Fine," Ryou agreed, smiling. "It was Bakura who got them to let us all stay here. He's been... nicer recently."

"Um... I know this is going to sound weird, but... why did he decide to let us all do this? Isn't he the one who's always wanting to know what's going on with everyone else?" Yugi put in timidly.

"It doesn't sound weird." Marik looked over at Ryou, "I was going to ask the same thing."

"Uh," Ryou stared at them flustered, "It's no big deal really."

"Okay that just makes me want to know more." Marik's look turned serious. "You wouldn't be so nervous if it was nothing."

"Yes," Yugi agreed softly, "We can't help being worried about you."

"Why?" Ryou stared at him. "I don't get hurt unless I disobey. Really." He added, seeing the other two stare at him in disbelief. "And he just arranged this because the last thing he wanted me to do was really hard."

"All right," Yugi agreed, "But what was it? Why would he ask you to do something hard instead of doing it himself? He's so much stronger than you, or any of us, that I don't see why he wouldn't just do whatever it was himself."

"It's not really important, just something he has me do sometimes. He likes asserting his control over me I think." Ryou stared at the ground. "He just tells me to stand a certain way and not to move until he says I can. That's all. As I said, it's no big deal; it just gets hard holding one position for hours."

"Sounds awful," Yugi said sympathetically, "I know I couldn't do that."

"Not really," Ryou replied quickly, "And it's a small price to pay for not getting hurt. If it means that I don't have to go through what Malik does," He looked over at his Egyptian friend, "_You_ know what I mean don't you?"

"Yes," Malik agreed, "And he's right. If it means not getting hurt a little effort now and then isn't a big deal. Let's talk about something else anyways. Have you heard anything from your girlfriend?"

"Malik!" Yugi yelled, going bright red. "Anzu's not my girlfriend!"

"Then how did you know who I was talking about?" Malik replied teasingly. "If she isn't your girlfriend I'll... I don't know. I was going to say eat the rod but Marik would kill me if I did. I know! If you don't like her I'll jump Bakura." He smirked triumphantly at Yugi.

"Um, Malik," Yugi said hesitantly, "Wouldn't he get, angry, if you did that?"

"I don't think he'd care really," Ryou contributed, "He'd probably just find it amusing. The worst reaction you'd be likely to get from him is a slap if he thought you meant it."

"See," Marik said triumphantly, "It would be fine. He's not the type to get mad because of something like that. He'd only get mad if you look at him wrong." He added cheerfully. "Not because you glomped him."

"Yeah..." Yugi agreed, "Not like Marik."


	17. ch 17 Gossip is for girls

Chapter 17

"He's not the type to get mad because of something like that. He'd only get mad if you look at him wrong. Not because you glomped him."

"Yeah..." Yugi agreed, "Not like Marik."

"I've always thought..." Ryou interrupted them gently, "That the three of them... Yami, Marik, and Bakura. They fit together, you know?"

"Um, no?" Yugi looked over at him in confusion. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Well," Ryou began, "It's just a theory, but... I think of Yami and Marik as two opposites. If you think about it, Yami's practically a hikari himself, and Marik's the epitome of darkness and evil."

"That's for sure," Malik agreed. "He's the most evil person in the world."

"As you say. But anyway, if Yami's good and Marik's evil, what's Bakura? He's not really evil, and you definitely couldn't call him good. I'd say that he's the one in the middle. I think he's the one holding the group together. If he wasn't there Marik and Yami would be at each other's throats. Neither of them really likes each other even now, although they're getting along better now. But Bakura likes them both and because of him they're a group. You see?"

"Yeah, it makes sense," Yugi agreed. "They all felt sort of left out of things back home though and I think that was a major motivating factor for them to get together as a group but Bakura's really the reason why they've stayed as one. That and all of us living with Isis helped too."

"Hey," Malik interrupted, "Speaking of Isis did you know she's got a boyfriend?"

"Nooo," And they settled in for a cozy session, talking together.

Marik shook his head in amazement. "I can't believe it. First chance in months they have to talk to each other and their topic is Isis' boyfriend!"

"Hey!" Bakura interrupted angrily, looking up from his food, "You didn't tell me Isis had a boyfriend. What's he like? Who is he? Where did she meet him?"

"Yeah," Yami agreed, "You can't keep news like this to yourself! It's unfair. Come on, tell us everything."

"All right, all right, whatever." Marik agreed. "There's not really much to tell though. Isis just wrote to say that when she was looking for new artifacts for her museum she met this boy, Bill I think his name was and that they're going out. I don't think she wanted me to know anything more than that. If she knew Malik was going to see her letter she would have written more I guess, but anyways, why are _they_ talking about her and not about how to get rid of us or something?"

"Perhaps because they're not stupid?" Yami suggested caustically, "They know by now that they can't get rid of us. And I don't think Yugi would want to get rid of me anyway. We're still friends no matter what."

"Yeah well, that's you." Marik sneered, "I'm not that soft."

"No, you're that stupid," Yami retorted. "Hey, where's Bakura?"

"What do you mean?" Marik looked around frantically, "Where's he gone? And why should he leave now?" His shoulders slumped, "Oh well, it's not as if we're going to be able to find him anyway so... I'm not stupid, you're a soft old fool!"

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm _starving_." Malik complained. The three hikaris were sprawled out over the tower, which was littered with candy wrappers.

"That's good," A cold voice commented and Malik sat bolt upright, eyes wide and fearful. Ryou scrambled to his knees and Yugi tried hard to be invisible. "You don't have to be so scared." Bakura continued. "I just brought your lunch." He set a tray on the low wall and turned to go down. "Oh yes," he added, turning back, "And you might want to clean this place up a bit before lights out. _We_ certainly don't want to have to wait while you do." And with that he was gone.

"That was nice of him," Yugi commented, opening the first of the containers on the tray. "Mmm, this looks _good_."

"Give me some," Malik demanded and they were soon arguing over who got what. There were twenty cream puffs on one plate and both Yugi and Malik exclaimed in surprise over this. "Why would anyone want cream puffs?" Malik demanded.

"They're mine. Leave them alone." Ryou grabbed the plate and began to stuff himself with them. "And don't insult my favorite food!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Um, Ryou? When you said that cream puffs are your favorite food what did you mean?" Yugi asked carefully.

"They're my favorite food!" Ryou replied cheerfully. "And it's the one thing Bakura will always do for me. I get my cream puffs no matter what!"

"...whatever." Malik muttered.

"That's sweet of him though," Yugi said thoughtfully, "Why would he do that? It doesn't make sense. He's not the kind of person who... Ryou? Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine," Ryou said shakily, "But he says that if you have a question you should ask him rather than going behind his back. And I was just sort of worried that he'd get mad at you."

"And is he?" Malik looked terrified.

"Not really, just sort of annoyed. I don't think he'll mention it to anyone if that's what you're thinking. You should be fine." Ryou smiled. "He wouldn't be that cruel without a reason."

"Yeah... you're lucky." Malik trailed off, staring into the sky. "I wish my yami were like yours."

"I'm not sure if you could handle it." Ryou replied, smiling happily. "I love having him around as long as he's not hurting me, but I'm not sure you could stand the attention. He seems to like having me around. Like his cat."

"His...cat?" Yugi repeated, "You're saying that you're like his cat?"

"Yup!" Ryou agreed, smiling happily. "I'm his other pet!"

"Okay..." Yugi sweatdropped. "That's just... weird."

"Not really." Malik put in. "I think I understand. He likes having you around as a pet right? Has _he_ ever compared you to a pet or anything like that?"

"Um... he said once that I made a pretty pet." Ryou replied, blushing slightly, "But I don't think he meant anything by it."

"No," Malik agreed, "I wouldn't think so. But it makes sense. You know how Bakura is always possessive of anything he owns?"

"Yes..." Yugi admitted, "But I don't see how that relates to the idea of Ryou as a pet."

"I'm thinking that Bakura might think of Ryou as a possession. You know, not as a thing, but like... like a pet, sort of. Does that make sense to you?"

"It sounds awful." Yugi stared at him. "What do you think Ryou?"

"More a slave than a pet." Ryou replied softly. "But yes, it does make sense, if you make that substitution. You know that slavery was common in Egypt when he was alive. Maybe that's why Yami doesn't mind what Marik does. He probably thinks of Malik here as a slave."

"That would explain a lot." Yugi agreed. "But I don't see how he could."

"Maybe the old Yami couldn't, but we have to remember; this isn't the old Yami." Marik told him gently. "I know you still like him, and he's still the same basic person, just with his memories, and a few different beliefs. If you grew up with slavery as a child what would you think?"

Yugi just stared at him. "I... don't know..."


	18. ch 18 Of cream puffs and Yugi

Chapter 18

"So, had fun did we?" Marik sneered. "I sure hope so because now you have to pay for it. Right Malik?"

"As you say Master," the boy whispered.

"Aww, cute," Bakura smiled, head tipped to one side, "Don't you think, Ryou?"

"I... guess,"

"You don't sound too certain." Bakura looked over at his hikari. "Don't you think it's cute though?"

Everyone stared at him.

"Oh yes," Bakura said suddenly, "You had a question to ask me. Something about cream puffs I believe."

"Yes," Yugi replied slowly, "I was wondering why... Ryou said you gave him cream puffs?"

"Does this make sense?" Marik interrupted. "And what do cream puffs have to do with anything?"

"I believe it has a point," Bakura replied lightly. "But it would probably be more easily apparent if you allowed the boy to speak." He placed a finger over Marik's lips. "Don't you think?"

"Y-yes," Marik stammered, cheeks red, "I... guess."

Bakura smiled. "Good. Now, what were you saying?"

"It's no big deal," Yugi hedged. Bakura gave him a _look_. "It's just that Ryou was saying how he loved cream puffs and that you'd give them to him whenever he wanted and I was wondering why." He peeked up at Bakura nervously. "You don't have to answer; it's just a silly question..."

"Is it?" Bakura asked dryly. "Then why make all the fuss? The answer is the part that makes it a silly question." Yugi stared at him. "He deserves to have _something_ to make up for what I do to him, right?" Now the hikari's eyes darted around trying to find some way out of answering the question. "It doesn't matter anyway." Bakura waved it aside, before sitting down on the ledge and running a hand over Ryou's hair.

"Why do you do that?" Malik asked daringly. Marik slapped him.

"Cause I feel like it." Bakura replied. "I like long hair." He smirked, running a hand through his own. "As should be obvious."

"Yes," Malik agreed softly. Marik had let him go when Bakura had chosen to answer him instead of simply ignoring him or getting mad.

"Come on then, we've gotta get down there. Oh and Yugi," The boy looked up as Bakura addressed him, "Yami said to bring you out with us as he wants to spend time with Hermione. You can double-check if you want. I think he's expecting it."

"Okay," Yugi replied softly.

"That didn't take long." Marik remarked, amused, "What did he do, yell at you and tell you to play along and leave him alone?"

"I didn't ask him." Yugi told him. "Whatever you may be Bakura's trustworthy."

Marik's face went red but Bakura just shrugged, possessing Ryou again and leading them towards their room. "Bastard." Marik snarled.

"Why?" Bakura asked, looking as amused as Marik had been before Yugi's retort. "It's just him after all. If it was Yami now I'd be getting mad but it isn't is it?"

Marik looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded. "You're right. He's not worth paying attention to is he?" Bakura just smiled slowly.

"Hey, Bakura," Yami asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Did Yugi seem... happy to you? He hasn't said anything to me since yesterday. And he didn't ask if I thought it was all right to go with you and Marik. So I'm sort of... worried, you know?"

"I know," Bakura replied, lips twitching slightly. "I'd probably feel the same way if it was Ryou." Yami stared at him. "What? I may not actually talk to him but that doesn't mean I don't communicate. I just use emotions rather than words most of the time. Harder to get confused that way." He smirked.

"All right," Yami replied, "But you still haven't told me whether you think Yugi's okay or not. He doesn't normally keep quiet for this long."

"He's probably just got a lot to think about." Bakura shrugged. "Most of the time they were talking about pretty deep stuff no matter what Marik says. He doesn't know that Malik's learned a rudimentary mind shield. It's not strong or anything but he can make Marik think that a memory is happening as long as Marik doesn't get suspicious. Just don't tell him that okay?"

Yami nodded. "I wouldn't. But I'm surprised _you_ didn't tell him. It's the kind of thing you _would_ say, just to get him in trouble."

"I don't think so." Bakura looked over at him disdainfully. "Maybe if it was just some random person I happened to meet I would. _Maybe_. But Marik can be really nasty when he gets mad. Even I wouldn't wish that on someone. Especially since it's not hurting anyone. So just don't mention it."

"I already said I wouldn't," Yami agreed, "But you really think that's all it is? Yugi's really not the kind of person who'd..."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "If you're really that worried why not go ask him? He won't mind. He's not the type to get mad about that kind of thing. It's what I'd do."

"What you'd do is most often the opposite of what I'd do, Bakura," Yami pointed out dryly. "We deal with things in very different ways. This time, however, I believe you're right. Asking Yugi is probably the best course. Arigato!" And he retreated into his soul room.

Bakura stared at his currently soulless body for a moment before separating from Ryou and reaching for his wand and his transfiguration book. Ryou knelt on the floor by his feet and watched as he practiced changing one of Marik's spare armbands into things.

"Bakura-sama," Ryou asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Ryou?" Bakura looked up at him, surprise flickering briefly over his face. It was very rare for Ryou to initiate a conversation.

"Won't Marik get mad at you for doing that? That's his bracelet after all."

"I don't care if Marik _does_ get mad. It's just one of his spares." Bakura reached down to cuff Ryou lightly across the head "And it's an armband not a bracelet." He added coolly, "Get it right or it won't be me who'll be hitting you. Marik hates the implication that his jewelry makes him look feminine and calling his arm and wrist bands bracelets is one thing practically guaranteed to make him mad."

"Sorry," Ryou whispered, bowing his head. "I didn't mean to." He quickly stopped himself, not wanting to get in any more trouble than he had already. Sometimes Bakura got mad when he said something that sounded like an excuse. It depended on his mood really. If he was angry then he'd pick up on every fault, but if he wasn't Ryou would be fine.

"Yeah, whatever," Bakura replied in a bored tone. "As I said, I don't really care; I'd just rather you didn't get into trouble with Marik."

"Thank you," Ryou said softly. Bakura just shrugged in reply and went back to his practice. Ryou watched in fascination as the bracelet –no, armband – flickered from one shape to another as Bakura said the strange words. He didn't often get an opportunity to see magic at work. Ryou was fascinated by it, but most of the time Bakura would take over as soon as people started using magic.

That was why Ryou had started getting into occult stuff. He'd gotten Bakura, or rather, the yami had gotten him, and then he'd realized that magic really was real. And if magic was real then maybe the stuff that people did actually worked. His fascination had worked against him though, as Bakura made dolls of those who harmed him, or those who he wanted to be friends with, and trapped their souls inside them. But still, Ryou had never lost that childlike wonder at magic, even when it became an integral part of his life.

"You like this don't you?" Bakura remarked absently. "I don't get why you still like magic so much. Magic's the reason I'm here after all."

"I – don't really mind you being here," Ryou confessed hesitantly. "I hate it when you hurt me or my friends and make me do weird stuff, but you're still a part of me."

"Yes," Bakura agreed. "The soul bond is perhaps _the_ strongest bond in existence. The only one I know that's stronger is the bond of true love. And that's really rare. A lot of people get married because they really like each other, or because they're good friends and want kids. Sometimes relationships are based purely on sex. But the bond of true love, that's really rare. Everyone has someone somewhere who's perfect for them, but most never find them. That's why so many couples get divorced. They settle for something less than perfect and discover that it's not enough. Or worse, they think that what they have is perfect when it's not. And when they realize that, they just can't handle it. Like kids in a way. A child will beg and beg for a toy, and when they get it, when they realize that it's not what they thought it was they throw a screaming fit and throw it away."

"That's awful," Ryou stared up at him, wide-eyed. "Is that really what happens? I thought, most of the couples I've seen are so happy with each other..."

Bakura shrugged and tossed Marik's armband on to the other's bed. "I never said that basing a relationship on friendship is bad. Or that no one finds their perfect mate. I just said that most people don't. I believe Yami has. That's one reason why Marik agreed to help so easily. He wouldn't want to see something like that go to waste just because he didn't try to help. It's not really that bad." He looked up at the clock on the wall. "It is, however, that late. Come to bed Ryou."

Ryou quickly stood to slide into their bed next to his yami. "Where's Marik then if it's that late? If you don't mind me asking that is?"

"I don't mind," Bakura replied absently. "And I don't know where he is. He said he wanted to be alone for a while. I believe he's still thinking about that last game."


	19. ch 19 Remember the game

Chapter 19

"I believe he's still thinking about that last game."

Flashback

"The third and final game is simple. It's a game that everyone knows. One that both of you should, if my information is correct, be equally proficient at. This is a chess match. Yami is black, Ron is white. Let the game begin." Harry yelled.

"It's not as if we really need to have this game anyway." He muttered to Bakura, who was sitting beside him. "Yami's already beaten Ron at two of the three games. It's only Ron's stubbornness that's keeping him at this. I'm really sorry. Your friend shouldn't have to go through all this."

"It doesn't matter really. Yami likes games and he hadn't gotten anyone willing to play with him in a while. He's enjoying this."

"Oh good," Harry sighed in relief, "Now I don't have to feel guilty any more."

"Yeah," Marik agreed, laughing. "Yami shouldn't win as much. He'd have a lot more people wanting to play him if they didn't always lose."

"Always?" Harry's brows arched in surprise. "No one _always_ wins."

"True," Bakura agreed, "But put it this way, Yami's only lost twice. He's played hundreds of games with many different people, all of them champions at their own game, and he's only lost twice."

"When was this again?" Marik asked curiously, "I don't remember Yami saying anything about that to me."

"He wouldn't," Bakura replied, "I was there, or rather, my hikari was, for one of them, and Ryou got the story of the other one from Yugi earlier as an explanation of what they were all doing there. In Duelist Kingdom," He added, seeing that Marik was staring at him blankly.

"So who beat him?" Marik asked. "I didn't think anyone could. Yami is the king of games after all. No one ever defeats the king of games."

"Pegasus in a timed game and Seto." Bakura made a face. "But Set cheated. He said that if Yami attacked he'd die, and course Yami, being the goody-goody he is couldn't handle it enough to figure out that he was bluffing." Marik looked at him questioningly, gesturing towards his Rod, and Bakura nodded slightly.

"Every other game he's won." This was Marik. "He never lets anyone win against him either. Thinks it's against duelists' code or something. Bit stupid of him really but if that's his notion of honor I'm not going to argue."

"I should hope not," Harry agreed. "That would be really wrong to interfere with another's code of honor." He looked at them and asked, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," Bakura's eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter as he glanced over at Marik who was shaking, hand over his mouth to prevent anyone from hearing him. "We have our own secrets you know."

"All right," Harry said, "I won't press you. But, I have to tell someone."

"Tell us then," Marik agreed. "We won't tell anyone."

"Well, then," Harry lowered his voice, "Did you know that the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin? It may not seem to be that big a deal to you guys but, it's really been bothering me. If I was meant to be in Slytherin does that mean I'm a bad person?"

"No," Bakura told him comfortingly, "It just means that you have the skills to go into that house. The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin too. I just told it I wasn't going and it decided to put me here. I think that if you were really irredeemably evil it wouldn't have let you go anywhere else. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah," Harry smiled at him. "Thank you. That really helps. I hate thinking that maybe I was meant to be in Slytherin because I'm a really awful person or something. It would be awful if that were true."

"True," Marik agreed, "But think for a minute. If you were really that evil you would have wanted to go into Slytherin. Slytherins are mostly very proud of their house if you've noticed. So the fact that you didn't want to go into Slytherin is in itself proof that you shouldn't be there."

Harry nodded. "That's what Dumbledore said, though he just said it was because of our choices that we are what we are. But it helps hearing it from you. Thanks again guys, I needed that." He fell silent and the three simply watched the chess match to its predictable end.

End Flashback

"Just go to sleep," Bakura finished. "It's no big deal." Ryou nodded, snuggling into him and smiling as he felt Bakura relax in sleep. Sleep was the only time he ever did relax, Ryou mused. 'I wonder if he really meant all that about love, and how most people never find it? It's nice to know that somewhere out there is someone who's perfect for me.' And with that thought he slid into sleep.

Some time later Marik drifted into the room and over towards their bed. He picked up his armband, quickly putting it back where it belonged, and walked over to shake Bakura's shoulder gently. Bakura was awake in an instant and Marik tugged him out of the room, up to their tower.

"So what did you want?" the slightly shorter boy asked finally, "I assume you have a reason to wake me up in the middle of the night."

"I just wanted to talk," Marik replied nervously, "You're not mad are you?"

"If I was mad you'd know," Bakura retorted. "And I wouldn't have come up here with you. Actually I figured you do something like this. I'd just like to know what it is that's gotten you all worked up."

Marik nodded, "When you said that about the hat not letting anyone who was irredeemably evil go anywhere but Slytherin; did you mean it?"

"Yes. I did. I believe that if I was truly evil, without any good in me, then the hat would have put me in Slytherin no matter what. Same with you. But neither of us is really evil, so we're in Gryffindor. Does that help?"

"Yeah," Marik, agreed, "Thanks."

Bakura watched him for a few seconds before nodding and standing up. "I'll be in my room if you want me." Marik watched him go before reluctantly returning to his thoughts.

"Hey Bakura?" Harry called.

"Yeah?" Came the reply, from the other side of the common room.

"Why are you practicing transfiguration? You're better at it than any of us already and we've been practicing it for years."

"I read that you've figured out a way of turning some special people into animals so I'm trying to get better at this so I'll be able to do it too. Besides there's nothing else to do. Yami's off with Hermione, Marik's still thinking, and," He came to a sudden stop. "And there isn't anything else to do." He finished, shrugging.

"You could talk to me," Harry suggested.

"No offense," the other replied, "But no, not really. There's nothing to talk about with you. We have nothing in common. Other than that we're both here of course."

"Well what have you got in common with Marik and Yami then that you haven't got with me?" Harry asked daringly. He knew that for some reason this was a subject that the three had always avoided speaking about and he was curious. Besides, as Bakura had said, there wasn't anything else to do.

"Plenty of things," The other replied, absently. They'd spent a lot of time thinking up an explanation that would fit, and have enough of the truth in it to sound right, without revealing anything and had a competition going on who could get it out first without making the timing seem contrived. "A past friendship for instance. We knew each other before we knew you." Here he paused again, "Strange, it feels like a long time but it's only really been a few months since I first met Yami. Marik came into it a bit later."

"So that's it? You can talk to them because you share a past? If you look at it that way then that should mean that I can't talk to you, for the same reason, that the only ones I can talk to are Ron and Hermione?"

"You can talk to the people here because you have much the same interests as they do." Bakura retorted. "I don't care about all that Dark Lord stuff, underneath that you're just an ordinary kid. Admittedly you're an ordinary wizard kid, but you're still ordinary. You've had a few adventures, and a few narrow escapes but you're still basically a normal person who's had a lot of bad stuff happen to them."

"And you're not?" Harry snapped. "From what you said you didn't even know you were wizards until Dumbledore told you. How are you any less normal than I am?"

"Well, let me think," Bakura replied sarcastically. "Perhaps it's because, while you've had a lot of weird stuff happen to you, _we've_ started a lot of weird stuff. You've been a mostly passive, defensive person, exactly as is normal. _We_ have purposely gotten ourselves into and out of life-threatening situations without magic. _That's_ the difference between us."

Harry stared at him blankly. "I don't get it. How could you get yourself into a life threatening situation without magic and compare it to anything that's happened to me? All the situations I've been thrown into were magically based."

"The point isn't the type of situation," Bakura replied scornfully, "It's what you yourself said. 'The situations you've been thrown into.' You fought back when people tried to make problems for you. I made problems for other people. That's one reason why we're all here. Isis decided that we'd be more likely to behave in a situation where we don't know anyone and where we're facing an entirely different way of life. This is our therapy you could say. Entirely different from you."

"So you're saying that you were a bully or something like it and that that's why you're in Hogwarts?" Harry shook his head, "Yeah right. Pull the other one."

"It's got bells on it." Bakura finished for him. "And as a matter of fact the answer is no, not really. Just a rebellious kid stuff. Typical teenagers in a way. Except that the stuff we got into was not typical. Occult stuff, Duel Monsters, knives... not the ordinary teenage rebellion." He smirked and looked at his arms. "The scars barely show any more."

Harry stared at him, "You mean you used to cut yourself?"

"Yeah," Bakura agreed. "I used to cut myself, Yami got into the crowd which was so obsessed with Duel monsters that the stakes for a game could become a human soul, and Marik got himself into one of the gangs hanging loose around Domino. Nothing too serious, just a few minor fights, but enough to get Isis worried. We ended up getting together and forming a group just before she lost it and brought us all to England. It wasn't long after that that we came here."

"I... see," Said Harry finally. "So that's what you meant when you said that I was ordinary and you weren't. It makes a weird sort of sense too."

"Yup," Bakura agreed cheerfully. "I've gotta finish my practice now, see ya." And he ran upstairs before Harry could think of anything else to say.


	20. ch 20 An absence of need

Chapter 20

"I beat you," Bakura called cheerfully, coming into the light, where Yami and Marik were sitting. Hermione would have been there but one of the teachers had called her off to discuss her grades and Hermione could never resist talking about schoolwork.

"Beat us how?" Yami asked him curiously.

"I got to tell about our past thingy first." Bakura replied cheerfully. "Now you'll probably get to explain the details to Hermione. Is something wrong?"

Yami shook his head. "There's nothing wrong really. I was just thinking."

"Ra," Bakura shook his head disgustedly. "You and Marik both just thinking. Isn't there anything else for you to be doing?"

"It's better than studying," Marik defended himself. "And besides, it's something I've been wondering about for a while. Ever since Malik made me as a matter of fact." He smirked and stuck out his tongue. "So there."

Bakura just sneered at him. "That doesn't change the fact that you're no fun when you do that. I'm going to talk to Ryou. At least he won't be obsessing over things he can't control."

The other two stared at him as he walked off. "What's got into _him_?" Yami asked finally. "He's never this angry. Or that rude."

"Dunno," Marik shrugged, "I think he's just mad that we're having DDA with Snape next time, seeing as Lupin still hasn't arrived. They've hated each other ever since that mind-reading incident, remember?"

"Yeah," Yami laughed. "That was funny. Or at least it was funny the way Bakura told it. Must have been really embarrassing for Snape though. Imagine if you tried to read someone's mind and they ended up reading yours instead."

"Bakura would never let me hear the end of it." Marik groaned. "Can you imagine the taunts he could think up about that one? Ugh." He shuddered. "I'm glad I'm not that incompetent."

"Same here," Yami agreed. "That would be awful if I couldn't even do such a simple spell as reading someone's mind – and if Bakura gave Snape permission to then he wouldn't have put up any resistance – without messing up. Can you imagine? That would mean I was like Joey!"

"Awful. And that's probably why Snape hates him so much."

"What about Bakura?" Yami asked. "That's an explanation for Snape's behavior, at least, that which is not inspired simply by the fact that Bakura's in Gryffindor, but why does Bakura hate him so much?"

"Simple," Marik replied. "It's the one thing about him that even _I_ managed to figure out quite easily. He likes being in control. I'd call him a control freak if I didn't want to be polite. And since he obviously was _not_ in control with that mind reading episode, he hates Snape. I think he'd just dislike him if it weren't for Snape's hatred of him. But wouldn't you hate someone who hates you that much?"

"Yes," Yami found himself agreeing. "I would." He shook himself quickly. "But you know, that does explain a lot about him. I never actually thought about it. He's not the most pressing of subjects for thought, or at least, he isn't in my mind. Still, that would be why he treats Ryou the way he does. Control."

"Exactly." Marik smirked; satisfied that he'd made Yami think about it. "It's all there once you get that one piece. And that's part of what I'm thinking about. If the hat would truly send all who are evil to Slytherin, and it didn't insist on sending me there, or him, then does that mean that our extenuating circumstances are things like that? That Bakura's obsession with being in control of things somehow makes up for what he does? And that the same applies with me? Or is that just something I made up to try and justify myself?"

That's a hard one." Yami remarked. "Really hard. But I think that he's right. If your past gives you a reason to want to do something, or to hate someone, then it's not as bad as it would be if it was simply something you wanted to do. It's not just your own fault that you are the way you are, and that means that what you are isn't as bad as it could be. Does that sound right to you?"

Marik nodded. "Yeah... I think that's what I was trying to figure out. Thanks Yami." He looked up suddenly, "Hey, I wonder if Bakura really is talking to Ryou-baka. Wonder where he is."

"Go find him then," Yami replied, smiling, "I know you want to."

"Thanks," Marik smiled back at Yami. "I wouldn't want to offend you or anything but... Bakura's just special. I don't know why."

Yami just rolled his eyes as he watched Marik run off.

Bakura was indeed talking to Ryou. The hikari quite enjoyed those rare occasions when Bakura actually wanted to talk to him and so provided excellent company. Neither had to worry that Ryou would forget something and get into trouble, because his lessons had been drilled into him so thoroughly that he wouldn't even hesitate if Bakura told him to jump off a cliff. His yami would probably have a reason for it though, if he ever did that.

They were on their tower, deep in a discussion on the occult symbolism, if any; of the ingredients for the potion they had been making that day, and whether the potion would work just as well without those few ingredients that had an occult significance. Ryou didn't even notice when Marik came up the stairs, though Bakura did. Bakura noticed everything.

"Hey, Marik," He called cheerfully, "You're the potions expert. Do you think that this would work the same way if we replaced these ingredients?"

Marik shrugged helplessly and came over to check the lists. When Bakura got interested in something it was impossible to make him think of anything else. And besides, this sounded sort of interesting.

"I think that if you took that one out then the potion wouldn't work the same." He said finally, "But the others could just as easily be replaced with the ones you specified."

"Hmm," Bakura looked thoughtful. "What if you replaced them with these? Would it work as well then? Or would it still have the same results?"

Marik blinked at the list he was holding. Bakura's choices were... interesting to say the least. "I'd need to look these ones up." He told them. "I don't know the uses of half of them."

Bakura produced a couple of fat books and handed them to Marik. "Would these work? They're what I've been using but I've been looking for different stuff in them."

"They'll work fine." Marik told him absently before returning to his study of the book. "And I think that these should work. Except for the snakeroot. That's not a magical ingredient." He looked up just in time to see Ryou stick his tongue out at Bakura. "And what do you think _you're_ doing?" He glared at the offending boy.

Ryou cowered backwards, not answering, just staring at Marik wide-eyed. "He's fine." Bakura said calmly, reaching out to pull his hikari closer to him. "We were arguing about whether or not that would work earlier." He pulled a face at Ryou. "Looks like I lost."

Marik stared for a moment and then shook his head. "You put up with a lot from him don't you?"

"No, I don't think so." Bakura said, looking at Marik strangely. "Ryou's just gotten good at keeping within the boundaries I set. Hasn't Malik? I should have thought that would be normal."

"I don't set boundaries." Marik replied with amusement evident in his voice. "I don't really care what Malik does. He's there for me to use as an anger management tool." Marik smirked at his own joke. "I don't know _what_ you think Ryou is, but whatever it is Malik isn't that."

"Ryou is my hikari." Bakura's lips twitched at some private joke. "And whatever else I want him to be. Right Ryou?" Ryou just nodded.

"You know..." Marik trailed off.

"What?" Bakura asked, curiosity roused by Marik's behavior.

"I don't actually need Malik around anymore..."


	21. ch 21 Happy endings

AN: I'm reloading this because there were far too many errors in the original. There aren't many other changes, just grammar stuff, and a few corrections where things didn't make sense. If you find any that I missed please mention it in a review. Thanks for being patient with me.

Chapter 21

"Bye," Hermione called for the tenth time, waving furiously. The yamis were going home for their Christmas holidays while she stayed at the castle with her friends. She was really going to miss Yami and had tried to persuade him to stay, but he'd said that there was something really important he needed to do with his friends.

He'd spent a lot of time with her before they left to make it up to her at least. She smiled remembering the night they'd snuck out of the castle together and wandered around the forest, small globes of light bobbing along beside them, and the wild beasts she had heard so much about conspicuously absent.

The two of them had picked daisies to make daisy chains, and talked and laughed for hours before Yami suddenly plucked a rose off of a bush that hadn't been there a few seconds before. He had turned to her, mobile face suddenly serious. That had been the first time he'd told her he loved her.

That had been wonderful, and she knew that Marik and Bakura had given up a night of sleep to watch over them, and keep them safe. It was so sweet of them. She sighed happily, eyes never leaving Yami's face. He was the most romantic boy she had ever met.

Hermione shook her head at herself. She was acting like a girl from one of those romance novels that she had always despised. At least she knew that Yami would be coming back, and he'd promised to write to her. She sighed as the train disappeared from view and walked sadly back to the castle, drooping slightly but trying not to show it for her friends' sake.

After Christmas vacation Isis drove the three of them back to the train station. She watched them worriedly in the mirror. They looked slightly nervous, but not half as worried as she felt. She was worried about what was going to happen to the hikaris this term. Malik had spent the entire holiday covered in bruises that were never given a chance to heal and she couldn't help but worry about what that boded for later.

They got out at the station, picking up their luggage and headed towards the barrier, Isis trailing behind them anxiously. When they reached the barrier they gave each other nervous glances before quickly stepping away from it, leaving their trunks where they were, and separating from their hikaris.

Isis stared. Wasn't that rather risky? What if someone saw them? What was going on?

"Bye," Marik sneered, and, picking up his trunk stepped through the barrier, leaving Malik behind, staring after him, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"See you next summer Yugi," Yami said cheerfully, giving the shorter boy a hug, before following Marik through the barrier. Isis' eyes widened. Were they really doing what she thought they were?

"Don't forget what I've taught you Ryou," Bakura smirked. "But _do_ enjoy yourself. I'll be back in summer." He looked down for a second, before pulling something out of his backpack. "Don't open it till you get back home," he cautioned, handing Ryou a brightly wrapped package. "Bye." Hoisting his trunk up over his shoulder, the former tomb robber stepped through the barrier to join his friends.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Marik asked, as they filed into an empty car on the train.

"I know we did." Bakura replied. And the train began to move, carrying them away from the boys whose lives they had turned upside down. "The only real question is what's going to happen back at the castle. We won't have to hide them any more, so there will be no problems with us turning everyone's lives completely upside down."

A slow smile spread across Marik's face. Yami, he noticed, was still off in la-la-land thinking about Hermione, so he wouldn't be able to stop them. Smirking, he turned back to Bakura.

"Are you thinking what I think you are?" Their eyes sparkled with mischief as they began to plan. Hogwarts had better look out.

"WHAT!" The shriek echoed throughout the Gryffindor Dormitories. It seemed that Fred and George had found the surprise that had been left for them. Their beds were both filthy, with the inside covered in pond scum, and the outside daubed with mud. "WHO DID THIS!" Came the infuriated demand. This had been expected by the perpetrators of course, which was why Bakura and Marik both had found very good reasons for being elsewhere that night. They could watch the fun through their crystals, but if they stayed there was far too high a chance that they would get caught.

"How... dare... they..." Fred demanded, seething with anger. "We'll get them back. They can't escape us for long." Everyone in the room was staring at them like they had gone mad.

"What happened?" Yami asked them, sounding irritated. He had been snuggling with Hermione when the twins had started screaming, and he was _not_ happy about his fun being cut short.

"Our beds," George hissed, "Are covered in pond scum. Needless to say we _will _get our revenge. And it will be ghastly."

"Don't you have to find out who did it first?" Yami asked him reasonably. "You can't just go about playing tricks on everyone in the hopes that one of them will be the culprit after all."

"Ah..." It seemed they hadn't thought that far. "We'll figure it out."

"Well then. Try not to make so much noise next time. It's annoying."

Bakura grinned. "Perfect time for our little – surprise – hmm?" Marik smirked and nodded. Back in the dormitory a sheet of darkness unrolled itself from the ceiling and words began to scrawl themselves on it in what looked suspiciously like blood.

'This is our challenge to you. We will be better pranksters than you could ever dream of being. Get a life.'

Fred and George stared at it openmouthed while Yami sighed and buried his face in his hands. He could at least recognize this as being Marik's work. Bakura wouldn't have used blood he thought, but the pond scum didn't seem like Marik's type of thing. He would be more likely to soak the bed-sheets in blood. He sighed and shrugged. They must be working together and trying to be good. Well, reasonably good anyway. This was about as well-behaved as they were likely to get. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen next though...

Back on the tower Marik gave a thumbs up and Bakura flicked the metal on his ball into a new shape, changing the image to Snape's bedroom. "Now how about those pixies?"


	22. Epilogue

AN. After I'd added more to the end of the last chapter of 'Bound by Threads' I realized that while I may have shown how the yamis are doing I'd just left the hikaris in limbo. So this is my attempt to fix them up too. Hope you like it. Oh, and just let me reiterate my claim to owning nothing.

Malik

"I can't believe he's letting me go!" Malik exclaimed happily as he stared at the barrier which had closed behind them. A few moments later he glanced at the clock and saw that the train had left. "We're free!" He crowed, grabbing Isis around the waist and spinning her around.

His sister smiled at him. "We should be going now." She suggested calmly enough, but Malik could see the look in her eyes, and he knew that she was just as happy as he was.

They piled into the car, the mood almost the opposite of how it had been on the way to the station. All were laughing and chattering happily about all the inconsequential stuff they hadn't had a chance to say before. He could tell that, like him, none of them really believed that this would last; and they wanted to enjoy themselves as much as possible before it all ended. For his part he wanted to talk to his sister, and he was going to make sure he met her boyfriend. Anyone trying to take advantage of her would have him to deal with.

As if reading his mind – although that was Marik's right – Isis caught his eye in the mirror and grinned. He wasn't the only one looking forward to this. Maybe their family wasn't the best, but it was enough for him. Isis was really all that he needed now. He had loved Rishid though... Quickly he wrenched his mind away from that subject. He was supposed to be celebrating. He'd think about Rishid more later. Right now he had other things to think about, at least, until the thirty minute drive was over and he could talk to Isis, as he had not been allowed to when his yami was around.

Like Ryou. He glanced over at his fellow hikari, watching him joke around with Yugi. He might have been celebrating but the sadness still hadn't entirely left his eyes. The only one here who was purely happy without thoughts of what would happen later, once they came back again, hanging over his head was Yugi. Even Isis, who didn't have to deal with a yami personally, was worried for the others. The scars they had caused would take a long time to heal – if they ever did.

Malik glanced at his arm, silently contemplating the mass of scar tissue covering it. The wounds had been inflicted in his soul room and so were not visible unless he, instead of Marik, was given a separate body, but they felt like brands on his soul. Each one was a reminder of his failure to stand up for himself, another time when he let Marik win. Ryou had no such scars, and seemed not to mind that he was unable to stand up for himself but Malik knew that he had to feel it somehow. No one could come out of the kind of experience their yamis put them through unscarred. He certainly hadn't.

He glanced up in surprise as the engine stopped, belatedly realizing that they were home. Instantly his spirits lightened, and it was with a smile on his face that he stepped out of the car and towards what would be a wonderful vacation, a holiday from pain and bondage. How could he not be happy about this?

Yugi

"Yugi?" Anzu asked shyly.

The spiky-haired boy turned to her, eyes shining. "Yeah?" He replied hopefully. He had liked her for as long as he could remember, but she had always seemed to like his yami more. After the disastrous Battle City incident though, she seemed to have been frightened of him instead, which meant that Yugi didn't get any chance to see her.

"I've really missed you." She bent to hug him, although she didn't have to bend as much as she had previously. Yugi had grown up at Hogwarts. "Where were you? Why didn't you tell me you were going away?"

Yugi looked down. "I'm sorry Anzu. Isis decided that she had to get us away before our yamis did too much damage and Yami wouldn't let me take over to say goodbye to you." The face he turned up to her was so woebegone that Anzu melted.

"It's all right Yugi." Now she looked down, a blush starting to from on her cheeks. "I'm sorry for avoiding you." Yugi winced slightly at the memory. "But Yami was so scary. You didn't see how he was after Isis gave him his memories back. Can you forgive me?"

Yugi stared up at her. She was keeping her eyes on the ground, trying not to let him see her worry. "Of course I forgive you." He stammered. "How could I not? We're friends aren't we?" And he wished they were more.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Always." A blinding smile appeared on her face. "I was going to meet the guys at Burger World when I met you. Why don't you tag along? As long as you're sure Yami won't do anything that is."

"I'd love to come." Yugi yelled excitedly. "And Yami's still in England. He's got a girlfriend there." Now he glanced at Anzu nervously. She might not be over Yami yet.

"That's good." Anzu looked confused. "I hope she understands what he is, though, so he doesn't end up getting her in trouble. But come on! You can tell us all about it when we get there!" She grabbed his hand and dragged Yugi off to Burger World, ignoring his protests that he was perfectly capable of walking on his own. She didn't realize that the red in his face was due to the fact that the girl he loved was holding his hand, not embarrassment at being treated like a kid.

Right before they reached their goal Anzu skidded to a halt. "Hey, Yugi?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Yugi looked at her, thankful that he didn't have to crane his neck to look up at her anymore. "Do you want something?"

"Just..." Anzu cleared her throat. "I just wanted to ask you..." Yugi stared at her, noting the red in her cheeks, but deciding not to press her. She would probably tell him if he kept quiet but otherwise she might decide not to. "Would you like to... um, well, I've got a few days off work this week and I've got tickets for a show, so would you like to come with me? Like, on a date?"

It didn't take Yugi more than a moment to process what she had said. Instantly he flushed so red he looked like an overgrown tomato. "I'd love to." He replied happily, beaming, and twining his fingers through hers. "But first we have to tell our friends." He leaned up to plant a daring kiss on her lips. Anzu smiled at him and kissed him back.

"Definitely." She said firmly. "And we'd better get going or else they'll think something happened to me. Let's go!"

And the two headed inside towards a joyful reunion, and a happy new period of their lives. Together always.

Ryou

Ryou closed his eyes, letting his mind retreat into his soul room. He wanted to see Bakura again, even if it had only been a week since the yamis had left for Hogwarts. Yugi had Anzu and Malik had Isis, which left him all alone. He wasn't used to being so alone. He had always had Bakura there, even if the spirit hadn't exactly been good company. And he _had_ enjoyed the sweets Bakura had given him.

/Bakura-sama/ He called hesitantly. He knew this was stupid but he was doing it anyway. He couldn't help wanting to have someone else with him. He hated being alone.

The other appeared in his soul room, leaning against the door nonchalantly. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I- I just wanted to be with you." Ryou confessed.

A pale brow arched mockingly. "And here I was thinking you had come to thank me for leaving you alone." Abruptly the mood passed and Bakura turned serious. "Left you all alone again have I?"

Ryou nodded miserably. At first he had enjoyed being on his own without having to worry about his yami's rules. Then he had gotten past his original elation and realized a few things. He didn't want to be all alone but he was. The gang was too busy with Yugi, and they'd never really liked him all that much anyway. Malik and Isis were too absorbed in each other and in catching up on everything they'd missed for him to even _think _of intruding on their time with each other, and that left him completely alone. Plus, even without his yami being there, he still obeyed his rules. It had become a habit by now. Ryou didn't really notice until Isis pointed out he hadn't eaten for several days, and he realized that it was because Bakura wasn't there to tell him to, and he wasn't used to eating otherwise.

"Heh. You'll be fine. The others will remember you soon enough. It's not like there's any _reason_ for them to leave you alone anyway. You just have to start things yourself. Why do you think no one's tried to talk to you yet?" Ryou dared to look up at him, hoping that this wasn't just a joke, that Bakura really did know what was wrong with him.

"It's because you don't talk to them baka. You can't expect them to go out of their way for someone who never does the same for them. I don't think you're ever going to be fully accepted as one of the little circle of friends Yugi has built around himself; you're just too different for _them _to understand you. But if you don't at least get them to talk to you it's your own fault not theirs. Got it?"

Ryou nodded eagerly. "Arigato Bakura-sama." He couldn't wait to get back and see whether it would really work. Maybe it wasn't something about him that drove them away all the time. Maybe, just maybe, he could really have friends.

Bakura stared at him for a moment longer and then actually smiled. "You can do it baka. Now go. And don't bother me again until you've tried it for at least a week."

Ryou smiled back and vanished, letting his connection to his body pull him back to where he was supposed to be. He would come back, but hopefully by the time he did, he would have at least one friend of his own.


End file.
